Kaizoku
by gimmecookie
Summary: What if it happened in their teen years in high school and instead of wanting to become the pirate king, Luffy, who was openly gay, wanted to form the best rock band you've ever heard of? Slash, ZoLu
1. Prologue

So this is my first story; I wasn't really gonna publish anything here, but I came up with this in the middle of the night and just had to write it up. Sorry for any mistakes as English is not my first language.

This is a slash fiction featuring ZoLu, lol

Don't own most of the characters, but there will be some OCs.

About: what if it happened in their teen years in high school and instead of wanting to become the pirate king, Luffy, who was openly gay, wanted to form the best rock band you've ever heard of?

Not much action happening in the first few chapters because the development of this story is a bit slow, but I hope it won't be all that boring.

_Prologue _

"Class! Quiet down for a bit, I have an announcement to make." A woman in her mid 30s shouted, trying to talk over the loud conversations going on around the classroom. In just a minute everyone was quiet and looking at their teacher with mild interest. "Okay then. Today we will have a new student transferring to this class, so if you may please be calm for once." Loud snickers and muffled laughs could be heard throughout the room as the woman stopped talking, her face already showing a helpless frown, not believing a word herself. She sighed defeated.

Just a few seconds later the door slammed open, hitting the wall with an impact that was not really necessary and - to a surprise of everyone present - a small and skinny kid strolled into the room, impossibly huge grin plastered on his childish face. His big, dark eyes scanned the room through his black, messy hair, the grin never leaving his face. The woman standing by her desk blinked a few times, startled, looking at the door which almost crashed the poor, old walls of the building.

"Sorry about that." the new teen said, scratching the back of his head with a stupid grin, making the straw hat placed on his messy head fall forward and cover his big eyes. The woman still stood there with a shocked expression, thoughts of yet another crazy student in her class flooding her mind. The class started to whisper between one another, not really bothering to make sure the teen didn't hear them.

"What the hell is wrong with this guy, can't he open the door like a normal person?"

"What's with his stupid grin, he's probably an idiot."

"He's so scrawny, probably a stupid nerd."

"What's with the straw hat, it's, like, the middle of winter, not summer."

The girls sighed sadly examining the boy from head to toe.

"Ah, I hoped for someone more sexy…"

"He looks like a kid. Is he really 16?"

"Looks more like 12."

The dark haired boy looked at everyone with a blank stare, the smile finally leaving his face, replaced by an emotionless expression, the big eyes scanning the room like they were looking somewhere past them, lost in his own world.

"Uh," the woman finally spoke. "Class, shush. This is the new student I informed you about earlier. Um, may you introduce yourself?" She asked, directing her brown eyes at the teen.

"Sure." He grinned again, seemingly oblivious to the stares and rude comments. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! When I'm out of here I will become a lead singer in one of the best rock bands in the world." He stated, pointing his thumb at himself and smiling like a kid that still believes in his dream of becoming a superhero.

The class went silent for a moment, before erupting with loud fits of laughter.

"Yea, right, with that childish voice."

"Did it even mutated yet?"

"More like some boys band for 12 year old girls!" someone shouted, between fits of laughter. Luffy cocked his head to the side, his hand falling down to his body, making the bracelets on his wrist jingle happily. He blinked a few times and opened his mouth to say something.

" Yadda. I can sing." He stated matter-of-factly. "And I don't like boys bands." He added with that innocent stare, which made the whole class laugh even harder.

"And you do like Iron Maiden?" someone from the back asked, pointing at the red vest with a big logo written across it. The boy nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Why would I be wearing it if I didn't like them?" he asked, confused. The guy that asked the question muttered something under his breath.

"Right, class!" The teacher said loud enough to be heard over the talking going on in the classroom. She wasn't really the type of a teacher to make every kid quiet whenever she spoke up. They didn't really listen to her and she couldn't handle them too well. "Uh, Luffy sit down… next to Coby." She seemed to consider the choice for a moment, even when there was only one available place anyway.

When Coby heard his name, his head snapped from the biology book he was reading and his eyes met the dark big ones of the new kid through his round glasses. Luffy smiled that impossibly huge grin again and headed for the back sit next to the pink haired boy. He walked casually with his head up high through the tables, not looking at anyone in particular, as he strode past the snickering teens. In a flash his black mop of messy hair disappeared behind the tables and his face made a close contact with the dirty floor; the whole class started laughing again.

"Oh, Bill that wasn't nice!" The teacher squeaked at the boy who tripped Luffy. He send her a glare and she immediately averted her eyes with a guilty look on her face. That class was send from hell, she thought.

Luffy groaned from his place on the floor.

"What was that?" he asked himself, while getting up, disoriented, but quickly shrugged it off. "Ah, never mind." He added, and walked to his seat. The guy named Bill pointed with his thumb to Luffy's arm making one his friends twist his face with disgust, when he noticed the colourful bracelet on the new kid's wrist.

"Hi, I'm Luffy!" The teen outstretched his hand towards the pink haired boy sitting next to him.

"Coby." Said the boy, reluctantly shaking his hand and sticking his face back into his book with a deep frown. Luffy grinned again, focusing his attention to the front of the room, where the poor teacher tried to continue with her lesson.

Coby kept glancing at the new boy with evident curiosity in his eyes. He wondered how could he grin like that after what just happened. He was laughed at! He was laughed at his appearance and his dream, but he still seemed so confident with that smile on his childish face. Coby caught himself looking at the boy with both strange admiration and irritation. He was just too damn happy and dumb for his own good.

The bell rang, signalling the end of first period and Coby started to gather his things slowly, not noticing that someone was staring at him and waiting for him to finish. When he looked up, he backed off, startled to see the black haired boy grinning next to him.

"Oi, Coby, do you play any instruments?"

The pink haired boy frowned at the sudden question.

"Yes, I mean no, I… well, a bit." He stuttered out, walking past Luffy and out of the classroom.

"Nee, what do you mean a bit? And what to you play?" The boy appeared next to him again.

"Listen, if you don't want to screw up your reputation any more that you already did, I recommend you stopped talking to me." Coby finally said with a hint of irritation in his voice. Luffy seemed to consider something for a moment.

"What do you mean by my reputation?" He finally asked with a blank expression. Coby tripped over his own feet at the question and glared at the other teen.

"I mean that I'm a 'nerd', nobody talks to me, so go find yourself better friends, or you'd be laughed at."

"But I already am laughed at, so I don't think that hanging out with you is gonna change anything." Luffy said with a serious expression. "And I don't care!" He added fiercely. Coby stared at him for a moment, but finally sighed.

"I played violin in the school orchestra for some time." Luffy looked at him with a smile, surprising him with the words he spoke next.

"That's cool!"

"Don't you think it's lame?" He stuttered out, shocked expression on his face. He was talking to a rock fan after all.

"Why would I think that? Isn't it hard to play?" Luffy shouted excited, but before the other had the time to respond, he was talking again. "Suge! That's cool! But why did you stop?" Toby sighed again, amazed by the childish excitement on Luffy's face.

"Everybody else thought it was lame and stupid. Besides my father told me that 'playing in some stupid orchestra won't get me any good money.' so I stopped." He said somehow sad. When he didn't get any response, he looked up, thinking that the boy got bored already and left, making him talk to himself; but Luffy was still standing beside him, his hat low on his face, creating a shadow that covered his eyes. He looked up with a sparkle in his eye and a grin on his face.

"I've decided to create my own band. When I said that, everybody laughed at me and said that I should finally stop dreaming about the same thing and start to think about my future seriously. But I'm serious and I will not let anyone crush my dream, just because they don't believe in the same thing I do. I don't care what anybody's gonna say to me and how many times they will laugh at me, I will fulfil my dream." He finished fiercely with determination. Coby stared at his, speechless… this guy had the confidence and will power to go on, no matter what others said. That's what Coby lacked and in this moment in time, standing in the school's corridor and looking at the boy in front of him, he decided to fight for his dreams, just like Luffy is determined to make his come true.

"Nee, Coby, you listening?" Luffy snapped him out of his daze with the grin that never seemed to leave his new friend's face.

"Yes, I'm listening…" He muttered and walked into the next class of the day, with Luffy following short after him.

Coby choked on his sandwich and started to caught violently, waving his arms around his head. Soon his face hit the table he was sitting at, when Luffy smacked him in the back with all his might.

"You okay?" He asked, while staring at the red faced Coby and swallowing about a 10th cheeseburger from the school's cafeteria, which was disgusting for every single one of the students, like the rest of the school's food anyway, but for Luffy it didn't seem that way when he came to the surprised old lady for the last available cheeseburger. He already ate the rest.

"No, I am not fine! You almost choked me!" Coby shouted, when he managed to lift his head from the table. "And smacked my brain cells out through my ears!" Luffy stared at him confused.

"But I just tried to help you, as you seemed to…"

"And who's fault is that? Don't go asking questions like that while I eat!"

"You mean the one about joining my band?" Luffy asked, still confused as to why his friend was so frustrated with him.

"Yes! Where did that came from! Did you ever seen a rock band with a violinist before?" Luffy just shrugged and Coby face palmed himself. "Do you actually have anyone in that band of yours?"

"Nope." Luffy grinned. "But I will find someone soon! Maybe you know someone who plays anything?" He asked eagerly, shoving his face into Coby's.

"No." Coby responded flatly, pushing him away. When he saw the pout on the other's childish face he added: "Not directly, but I may have heard of one guy. But I'm not sure if it's not just some gossip, as he is considered so perfect by everyone…"

"Who, who, who?" Luffy bounced exited in his seat.

"He's in the last year… everybody seems to know him, or at least of him, as he is one of the best football players in the whole school. I also heard that he can even fight with katanas. Recently I also overheard someone say that he can play drums, and is really good at it. But I can't assure you that it is… oi, where are you going?" Coby shouted, when he noticed that Luffy was no longer sitting next to him, but walking away quickly towards the exit of the cafeteria. He sighed, when he didn't get any answer and got up himself, following the over excited teen.

"Baka! Where do you think you're going?"

"To find that guy, obviously." Luffy said and kept walking past the other students.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Coby asked, breathing hard from the run, trying to catch up with the other.

"Oh, right!" Luffy stopped abruptly, which made Coby collide with his back, and clasped his fist on his hand. "Where would he be?" He asked, smiling innocently and Coby groaned, frustrated.

"If you didn't know where you were going, why were you walking in the first place?" Coby shouted and Luffy looked at him with the huge grin plastered on his face.

"Guess I was too excited to think about that." Coby was about to say something, but the loud ringing of the school bell stopped him and he stood there with his face hanging open.

"Oh, the bell rang. Well then, we'll go talk to him tomorrow." Luffy said happily bouncing through the corridor towards yet another boring class of the day.


	2. Chapter 1

That little error mentioned by Empty Puppet is now settled, before anyone else can witness my stupidity, trololol; I knew there was something wrong! Just forgot it xD Anyway, moving on;

And so they meet, dun, dun, dun!

* * *

_Chapter __One_

"_Muri__, __muri__, __muri__, __muri_…!" Coby spluttered out, spitting at the other teen sitting next to him on the bench in the gym. Luffy blinked and wiped at his face with the back of his hand.

"Why?"

"_Muri_! You can't just walk up to him like that and ask if he wants to join your non existent band! You don't even know if he really can play! He's gonna kill you! All of them will kill you! You're a first year! They eat first years for breakfast!" Coby shouted with his eyes open wide, staring at the grinning Luffy.

"Haha, you're funny, Coby. I'm not gonna ask him if he wants to join my band…" Coby let out a sight of relief at those words. "I'm gonna tell him he have to join my band!" Luffy shouted with excitement, swinging his legs happily.

"_Muri_!" This time Coby was so loud, that every single person present in the gym snapped their heads to look at him with strange expressions on their faces. Luffy just laughed and waved at them with his hand, not really bothered by the irritated mutters. They were in their gym class, but as Luffy was new, he still didn't have the kit, so he wasn't exercising and Coby almost never was anyway, so they just sat at one of the benches, looking at others. Unfortunately for Coby, the 3rd year had PE at the same time and in the same gym as them today, and when Luffy noticed that the guy they were talking about the other day was there, he decided to just walk up to him there and then. Coby was still shaking his head furiously, muttering under his breath how impossible that was, when he noticed the empty space beside him. His head snapped up alarmed and his eyes almost fell out of his skull when he noticed Luffy casually walking past the running teens to the 3rd years stretching in the corner. He got up quickly, in hopes of catching Luffy before he made even bigger idiot out of himself. But he was too late, of course. Luffy was already standing in front of the green haired guy, with his head almost snapping, as he looked up at the athletic guy, who ignored him completely.

* * *

"Oi, you!" Luffy shouted, like he was 10 metres away, because he felt that way, when he had to stand on his toes for the guy to even notice him there. Still no result. "Oi, you huge, green haired one!" He shouted even louder and everyone directed their eyes at him, stopping what they were doing. Coby run up to his friend, sweating uncontrollably and looking nervously at the frowns of every single person looking in their direction.

"Are you talking to me, kid?" Coby almost fainted when he heard the guy speak up. He gulped nervously; no way can they escape now, when they had been noticed. Luffy stood beside him, grinning like he always does, oblivious to the stares and snickers of the others.

"Yup! I'm Luffy! And you are going to be the drummer in my band!" He stated, like he was talking about the weather and Coby's mouth hung open. He didn't just say that. They were so dead. They're going to be hunted by those guys for the rest of the year! He waited for the punch and a flying through the whole gym Luffy, but all he heard was a loud laugh. He looked up to see the green haired guy holding his stomach, and laughing with his eyes closed.

"Ah, you're a funny kid." He finally said and Luffy grinned at him. "Haven't seen you here before, are you new or something?" He asked, and Coby was shocked by the friendly tone of the guy's voice. Well, he did not expect that to happen. Why would someone that popular talk to a first year kid, that no one knew about? Luffy really was something, he thought.

"Yup, I'm new. Transferred here yesterday." Luffy answered happily. "So, you play drums, right?" He screamed with excitement, bouncing in place in front of the green haired guy, who smiled at him and ruffled his hair lightly, making Luffy pout, catching his hat, which flew off in the process. "Oi, I'm not a kid!" he muttered.

"Right, kid. And yes, I play drums, but I don't think I have time for your little games." Luffy pouted even more and Coby sighed. Even if he was so nice to Luffy, there was no way he would join his band.

"See, Luffy? Come on, let's go back, they have something to do here." Coby said under his breath, glancing at his friend.

"Doesn't matter." Luffy kept standing in front of the guy, even when Coby started to drag him away by his arm. "Doesn't matter!" He repeated, before turning around with the grin still on his face. "You're going to be in my band anyway!" He shouted and run back to the benches.

"Nee, Coby, what was his name again?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Roronoa Zoro... Do you ever listen to what I say? I almost had a heart attack there!" Luffy laughed lightly at his friend and averted his gaze back to the green haired guy.

* * *

Zoro went back to what he was doing before the funny kid interrupted him. He looked in the direction of the benches to see the boy holding his straw hat firmly with his hand and staring at him with an incredibly huge grin on his face. Zoro shook his head, a small smile of his own uncontrollably finding its way onto his always serious face. The kid had something that just made him laugh, but not in a bad way, he was just so amusing and different. Interesting kid, Zoro thought, as he run through the gym. A band? He asked - no - demanded Zoro to join his band? He laughed under his breath at the thought of him in a band of some little kids, who probably didn't even know what they were doing. He glanced at the kid again and almost tripped, when Luffy waved his small hand towards him. He raised his eyebrow and not knowing why, waved back. This kid was just too entertaining. He felt a light pat on the shoulder and looked to the right to see one of his friends grinning at him.

"What?" He snapped irritated, the always present frown back on his face.

"Nothing. Just wandering why you didn't kick that kid the first chance you got." The brown haired teen said casually, raising his brows at Zoro, who smacked him over the head with his palm.

"Ow! The hell was that for?"

"For being an idiot!"

"You're no fun, Zoro. You're too tense, maybe you could ask the new kid for a massage?" He said grinning and got yet another smack over the head, this time even more forceful that the other.

"Shut up, moron. Maybe I had a good day. And I don't kick every kid that tries to talk to me!"

"Yea, right. Then were you on your pms when you smacked that other kid straight in the face for running into you just yesterday?" The guy snickered at the irritated expression on his friend's face, trying not to laugh out loud. Another smack in the neck.

"If you don't shut up this instant, you're going to end up just like that kid from yesterday." he muttered under his breath. It wasn't like he was some sort of a bully, but it was true that he was easily irritated and his hand might just slip before he have the time to think, but that did not mean he was always walking around and hitting everyone. Still, everybody seemed to like him, or more like admire and obsess over him, which made him even more irritated than he already was. Sometimes he wondered if it wouldn't be better to just quit the football team, so all of those annoying girls stopped jumping him out of nowhere and everybody else talking about him every chance they got. He didn't like that kind of popularity and he didn't care about it. He sighed, irritated and smacked his friend again, as he still didn't stop talking nonsense about the new kid.

* * *

Luffy swung his legs happily, staring at Zoro from his place on the bench and grinning throughout the whole hour of PE. He completely ignored Coby's shouts and curses about how he's gonna kill him if he does something like that ever again.

"Oi, Luffy stop drooling over that guy already!" He was snapped out of his gaze, when he felt a rather not so light smack on the arm and he looked at his friend with blank expression.

"Wha…?" He said, a bit irritated for being forced to look away from the green haired guy.

"I said stop drooling over hi-"

"What?" Luffy's face heated up for the first time, at least it was first time for Coby to see his new friend blush and he smiled knowingly. Luffy covered his face with his precious hat and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that? Couldn't hear you." Coby said, obviously entertained by his friend's new behaviour.

"I said I was not drooling over him!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs, forgetting where they were, his face still red. He blinked and slowly averted his big, innocent eyes from his friend and towards the students, who stood there staring at him, some with their mouth open and others with disgusted frowns on their faces. Luffy's face heated up even more and this time even Coby blushed a bit because of the attention. He quickly looked around to find the green haired guy and see his reaction. Maybe he didn't know they were talking about him, Coby hoped. Surprised, he poked Luffy's arm to make him look from under his straw hat, which he did rather reluctantly. Zoro stood there with a stupid grin on his face, trying not to laugh and stared directly at Luffy, which made the poor teen's face heat up with embracement all over again. He pushed his hat as far onto his head as was possible and started to strode out of the gym, before that of course tripping over a lone ball and falling face first onto the floor.

* * *

Zoro used all of his will power to not just burst out laughing at the expression the kid had, when he noticed what he just said, or rather screamed out. His face was priceless. He was quiet surprised, not by the fact that the teen said 'him', because he did noticed his bracelet, but the fact that he knew they were talking about him and yet he wasn't all that pissed, more like entertained by the scene that enfolded itself in front of him. He furrowed his brows when he heard a loud thud and a pained moan; looking in the direction of the sound, he covered his mouth to not laugh again, when he noticed the boy sprawled across the floor. He was about to walk up to him, but was saved by a loud laugh. The heck is with him, why would he want to help the kid? Anyway, he shook his head and looked at the teen, who now laid on his back, his arms outstretched beside him, laughing his ass off. Zoro raised his eyebrows, like everybody else did when they saw the crazy boy. Did he hit his head too hard? They waited patiently for him to finish and in the meantime Coby walked up to him, looking him up and down for any serious injuries. When Luffy's laugh subsided a bit, he covered his mouth with his hand and sat up, looking at everyone.

"That was fun." He said finally, looking for his straw hat, which fell from his head when he collided with the floor. When he found it, he patted away any dirt that could have fallen on it and put it back on his messy head, smiling again. "Sorry for interrupting you all, I'm just not used to talking about stuff like that." He stated happily, looking at everyone with innocent eyes and made his way out of the gym, just as the bell rang.

Zoro scratched at the back of his neck, fighting the smile that tried to get back onto his face.

"Strange kid." He heard his friend say next to him and he nodded, deep in thought, as he walked away towards the changing rooms. And really interesting, he thought.

* * *

Those damn paragraphs won't work, so I will just use the line thingies, because I'm stupid and have no idea how to make them work.


	3. Chapter 2

Oh, my god, someone actually likes it! That's good cause I kinda like writing it. Look, a fight! I'm not good at those, so yea. Someone doesn't like Luffy, what a bastard ; o. Anyway, I can now assume that this story will have 10 to 15 chapters and they will be about the same length.

* * *

_Chapter Two_

Luffy walked through the school corridor with a huge smile on his face and a distant expression in his eyes. From time to time he would giggle to himself and the people that passed him would stare at him strangely, but he didn't care about that. He was deep in thought; he wondered if that Zoro guy really was that good with drums. He pouted, when he remembered how he called him a kid and laughed at him.

"I don't care what you think, you're gonna be in my band no matter what." He muttered to himself and earned even more glances towards himself. He shook his head violently and in the same time felt his face collide with something rather hard. For a second he thought it was a wall, but when that wall shoved him hard and he fell to the floor, he considered that option again. He looked up with a smile, but frowned when he saw the guy from his class; the one who tripped him on his first day. He acted like he didn't know it was him, but of course he wasn't all that stupid to not notice his ugly shoe in front of him. The guy now stood in front of him and looked at him with a stupid grin on his face.

"Oi, watch where you going, new kid." He snarled and Luffy's face twisted in disgust as the beer and smoke smelling breath hit his face.

"Aren't you too young to drink and smoke?" Luffy asked, getting up and moving few steps away from the other teen, who looked at him like he was some kind of an idiot and started to laugh, together with his 'friends'. Luffy just noticed them now.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" He asked and Luffy cocked his head to the side, blinking.

"Nothing's wrong with me." He grinned again and waved to the guys standing in front of him. "I have to go now, or I'd be late for my bus, bye." Luffy started to walk away, when he felt something tug at his hoodie and he stumbled backwards.

"We're not finished with you, idiot." The 'boss' snarled and Luffy grinned even wider, which made him more angry and irritated. More and more people started to gather around, forgetting that the last bell of the day rang and they were free to go home. When Luffy didn't stop walking away, freeing his arm easily, the teen clenched his fist and raised it, ready to punch Luffy in the back of his head. Some girls gasped, but nobody said anything. The annoyed teen grinned evilly and punched Luffy. Or at least he thought he punched him, but when he saw the boy standing next to him, grinning, he opened his eyes, shocked and looked in the direction his fist flew. He had hit the wall. Luffy laughed, which made him even more angry and this time he tried to kick the boy, but he easily dodged, still smiling that huge grin.

"Bill, what are you playing at?" One of his friends asked, shocked that his boss was not able to hit the scrawny kid. Bill looked at him with angry eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"Hehe, that was fun, but I really have to go now, Bill." Luffy grinned and started to walk away again, past the surprised teens, who watched him with mouths hunging open.

* * *

"Oi, what's happening here?" Zoro asked, trying to get past the group of first years and noticing one of his friends.

"Dunno. The kid from today's gym class just pissed off some bully, it seems." Zoro raised his brows and stretched his neck to see the kid walking casually, away from the other teen, who was now shaking with furry and clenching his fists. He sighed and pushed himself through the crowd to the front, just as the teen shouted after Luffy.

"Oi, you fag!" He snarled out and Zoro noticed that Luffy had stopped abruptly and tensed his shoulders, clenching his fists. Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what the kid will do. To his surprise the teen turned on his heels, no longer tense and with that flashing smile present on his face. This kid really was interesting, Zoro thought again.

"I don't see any cigarettes here." Luffy said lightly, still smiling. Zoro found himself with a smile creeping its way onto his lips when he looked at the teen's childish face.

"I'm talking about you, you little faggot." Zoro glanced at Luffy and noticed that something changed in his eyes, but he couldn't be sure as the boy lowered his straw hat to cover half of his face. He frowned, but calmed down when the smile didn't leave the boy's face.

"Well, I don't have time for your insults, so I better go now." He said quietly and Zoro had to squint really hard to hear him.

"Not so fast, I told you I'm not finished with you."

"I don't care, you can punch the wall again, if you're that frustrated." Luffy said and turned around to walk away, but was stopped by Bill yet again. This time, when he tried to punch Luffy from behind, the teen turned around quickly and Zoro noticed the lack of that incredible smile, that never seemed to leave his face.

Zoro raised his eyebrows so high, that they were almost touching his green hair. Luffy was so quick, that Zoro almost didn't see him punch the other guy in the gut, before he flew to the ground with a pained expression on his face. He looked at the kid again and saw him standing there with his head hung low, the straw hat creating a shadow over his face.

"It's cowardly to attack someone from behind." Luffy said in a serious tone and at this moment in time, as Zoro stared at him, he seemed much older and mature, without his childish and carefree smile. Maybe he misjudged him. Either way, he was more and more interested in that new kid. He looked around to see people staring at Luffy with shocked expressions and he snickered to himself, deciding to come up to the boy.

"Oi, kid." He said to catch his attention, as the boy was still staring at the ground. His head snapped up at the familiar voice and the smile came back full force, almost tearing his face in half.

"Zoro!" He said happily, placing his hat in a way that wouldn't be in his face, and Zoro was somehow pleased to see those big eyes again. He shook his head.

"You're good. Where did you learn that?" He asked to distract his mind from the strange thoughts.

"Someone taught me." He said, his hand snapping up to grab his straw hat while he said that. Zoro nodded thoughtfully.

"Weren't you in a hurry?" He asked when the kid didn't say anything else, just stood there staring at him with his big eyes. Luffy blinked and jumped up, alarmed.

"My bus!" He screamed desperately. "I'm late! And I don't know how to get home yet!" Zoro raised his brow, amused and heard some muffled laughs from behind. Most of the students has already left, but his friends still stood there, waiting for him.

"Guys, you can go without me." He said, waiving them off, before they could say anything. Shrugging, they left him in the corridor alone with the straw hat boy. He looked back at Luffy, who was jumping from one leg to the other, desperately thinking of a way to get home. Zoro tried not to laugh.

"Need a lift?" He said and grinned, when the boy looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"You're my savior!" Luffy screamed and took Zoro's hand, dragging him in an unknown direction.

"Kid, where are you going?" He finally asked, and Luffy stopped and looked up at the green haired man.

"Right! Where's your car?" Luffy asked innocently and Zoro sighed, pointing in the opposite direction from the one the boy was dragging him.

* * *

"So, what's the address?" Zoro asked as soon as they got inside his car, Luffy crawling inside, while staring at every little detail with mouth hanging open.

"It's huge!" He screamed when he finally sat in the passenger seat.

"Because it's a jeep. Now, tell me the address, so we can get a move on."

"Address! Right! Wait…"

"Don't tell me…"

"I don't remember." Luffy said and grinned innocently at the other. Zoro gritted his teeth, sighing desperately.

"You're hopeless, kid."

"Oi, don't call me a kid! I'm just 2 years younger!"

"Fine." Zoro said and glanced at the boy, who was staring at him intensely. "What? Right. Luffy." He muttered out, shaking his head when the boy jumped up in joy at hearing his name from the other's lips. "So what now?" He asked and Luffy just shrugged, still staring at him. "Guess I will have to take you to mine for now." He sighed and started the car.

* * *

They were sitting in Zoro's huge house, or rather Zoro was sitting in front of the TV and Luffy was running around, looking everywhere he possibly could and screaming how cool it was. When he finally plopped himself down beside Zoro - who was almost asleep by now - he laughed and started to bounce on the sofa.

"Do you ever get tired?" Zoro muttered, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep.

"Nope." Zoro sighed, but open one eye when he heard a loud thud and found the boy laying on the floor with his legs still on the couch.

"You okay?"

"Fine! My leg just slipped." He sat up and grinned again, but rubbed at his forehead, where Zoro noticed a small bruise. Zoro sighed and got up, walking past Luffy, who was still sprawled on the floor. He came back a few minutes after, holding a bottle of coke and threw it at the other teen.

"I don't have any ice, so that'll have to do." Luffy caught the bottle easily and got up from the floor, sitting back down on the couch cautiously, this time without jumping.

"So, did you change your mind?" Luffy shouted all of a sudden, throwing his hands into the air and making the bottle slip from his fingers and land directly on Zoro's head. "Oops." Luffy said covering his mouth to hide the smile of amusement. Zoro groaned and looked at the boy with irritation.

"Right. That's it, I'll give you my phone and you're gonna call your-"

"I don't remember the number." And Zoro thought that this kid somehow was the only one on the planet that wasn't able to irritate him. Well, he was mistaken.

"And how the hell am I supposed to not call you a kid?" He groaned, massaging his head, but decided against smacking the boy in the head. He was just too cute. Wait, he did not just thought that. He shook his head, grabbing his hair and pulling at them.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked with a frown and a worried expression.

"Yea…"

"So did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you change your mind about being in my band?" Luffy started to bounce excited on the couch again and shoved his small face into Zoro's bubble of privacy.

"No, I'm not gonna play in your childish band." He said and threw the bottle at the teen, hitting him between the eyes, just below the bruise from before. Luffy moaned, clasping both his hands on his forehead and falling on the couch, so he was now laying with his legs in the air. Zoro smacked him on one of them and got up.

"You're sleeping on the couch, tomorrow we're going to school and this time you are not going to be late for your bus. And learn your own address next time!" Luffy grinned from his place on the couch and heard the other go up the stairs, probably to his own room. He giggled, changed his position so he was comfortable and fell asleep few minutes later.


	4. Chapter 3

__Look another one today. New friends, yay!

* * *

_Chapter Three_

The next day everyone was staring with wide eyes as Luffy fell out of Zoro's car and rolled on the ground, before getting up, sleep still in his eyes. Zoro followed seconds after him, but instead he jumped out gracefully, not making an idiot out of himself. Luffy looked up at him, grinned, waved and strode off towards his pink haired friend, who stood by the entrance with his mouth hanging open.

"Hi, Coby!" Luffy sang, running up to his friend and slamming his jaw back into place with his hand.

"What were you doing with that guy? In his car? What, why, how? Did he kidnap you!"

"You're funny as ever, Coby. He gave a lift, of course." Luffy said and walked into school as the first bell rang. Coby followed him quickly.

"But what were you doing with him in the morning in the first place?" Coby asked, still confused.

"In the morning we ate breakfast." Luffy stated slowly, looking at his friend like he was from another planet and did not understand a word.

"What were you doing in his house?"

"Slept. That's the main thing you do in the house. Well, beside eating, that's the first thing on the list." Luffy's grin changed into a dreamy one, when he thought about his favourite meaty food, that waited for him at home. Shame he couldn't eat his dinner yesterday. Zoro only gave him some noodles from the previous day.

"What do you mean by that? Wait, calm down, Coby. Breathe... Luffy, what the hell happened yesterday?" Coby spluttered out and Luffy gave him a look of confusion.

"Oh, right, you weren't there. Well the guy from our class, Bill or what his name was, you know, I run into him and he got kinda pissed and so he wanted to punch me-"

"What? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did Zoro help you? How much did he want for that?" Luffy stared at his friend with a blank expression and then burst out laughing. Coby gritted his teeth and smacked him in the head.

"Uh, right. He didn't help me. I wanted to just go home already, but the guy wouldn't let me, so I just punched him. I wonder what happened to him after that, he just disappeared. Oh, well, his friends must have taken him away. Anyway, I was already late for my bus and I panicked, 'cause I didn't know my address!" At that Coby face palmed himself, but Luffy didn't seem to notice. "And then Zoro offered to take me to his house! And d that's how I slept over." He ended his story and looked at Coby's face of disbelief.

"Your stupidity concerns me." He muttered out and Luffy grinned at him.

* * *

"So, how are you going to make Zoro join your band?" Coby asked, after swallowing the last bit of his sandwich and staring at Luffy who had five hotdogs at a time in his mouth. He swallowed them all at once and grinned at his friend.

"Dunno. I will come up with something." He said, before stacking more hotdogs in his mouth. "Where is he now, anyway? How come he's not in the cafeteria." Luffy wondered, voicing his thoughts between swallowing the food in front of him.

* * *

The school day finally came to an end and Luffy run out of the building, bouncing off the ground and leaving Coby far behind. He stopped when the cold air hit his face, the wind strong enough to blew his light straw hat from his messy mop of black hair. He screamed loud enough to be heard even by the ones that still were inside the school building. Not bothered with the strange stares received from others, he started to jump and run around, trying to catch his precious hat.

"Stupid wind! Give it back! Oi! Give it back!" The wind abruptly changed direction and the hat flew over his head, still too high for him to catch it. Irritated, he spun around to be met with a sight of Zoro standing calmly in front of him with his straw hat in one hand. Luffy pouted and walked closer to the older teen.

"Give it back." He muttered like a child and snapped his hand towards Zoro's to get his hat back, but Zoro lifted it out of his reach with a small grin on his face. Luffy stomped his foot on the ground and stared at the green haired man with a frown.

"Why is it so important to you, that you even have it on in the winter?" Zoro asked, amused, but gave the hat back, as he couldn't resist the pout on the other's face.

"Someone gave it to me." Luffy said, placing it back on his head gently and lovingly. Zoro titled his head to the side, crossing his arms.

"Get a move on, or your bus is gonna leave without you again." He finally said and Luffy jumped in place and in a flash he was running towards the bus stop, but stopped few steps after and turned towards Zoro with that huge grin on his face.

"Thanks for getting my hat!" He shouted pleasantly, waved and was off running again. Zoro smiled and sighed, walking to his car with unwanted thoughts flooding his mind.

* * *

Next day Luffy walked into the classroom to find out that his friend's place was empty. He shrugged to himself and wondered why Coby was not in today. This day is going to be really boring. He sat through the first period staring out the window at the white snow that fell calmly from the gray sky. He didn't like winter. It was cold, gray and sad. And on top of it all, everyone was laughing at him for wearing his straw hat in the middle of winter. What was their problem? He pouted and continued to stare out the window, oblivious to the whole world, when something hit him in the head. He jumped up, startled, and picked up the piece of paper, unfolding it and reading the small, elegant hand writing.

_Don't go spacing out on Mr. Clarks lesson, or you'd be dead by the end of the period._

He frowned and looked around the room for the owner of the letter. A blonde girl smiled at him from across the room. He blinked, but grinned, which made her giggle. She turned her attention back to the front of the classroom and Luffy sighed, doing the same.

When the bell rang, he quickly got up from his seat and started to walk towards the door, but a small hand on his arm stopped him and he looked back to see the girl from before. She smiled at him shyly.

"Hi, I'm Anastasia. I saw you the other day. I mean, when you knocked out Bill with just one punch. That was incredible!" she said with excitement shining in her blue eyes. Luffy grinned at her, scratching at the back of his head and settled with a short thanks. "Maybe you'd like to join our boxing club?" She asked, shy once again.

"Yours? You mean you're a boxer?" Luffy shouted out and the girl nodded proudly. "That's so cool! I would never tell!"

"Well, I wouldn't say that you could punch with so much force, too." She responded and giggled. Luffy grinned again.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover!" Luffy screamed out. "Or something like that, anyway." And muttered the other sentence, not so confidently as the first one. The girl laughed lightly.

"So?" She asked, eager to know the answer and hoping for a new member in her club.

"No, thanks." He said with an apologetic smile on his face. The girl sighed.

"Oh, well, maybe you will change your mind. Anyway, do you want to hang out with me and my friends, as Coby isn't in today?" She asked, and Luffy jumped up with excitement.

"Sure!"

* * *

At lunch Luffy sat in the cafeteria with Anastasia and five of her other girl friends, who now stared at him, amazed, as he ate the last slice of pizza from the cafeteria.

"How can you eat so much and still be so skinny?" They all started to whine and Luffy laughed at their miserable expressions, shrugging.

"Dunno, it was always like that."

"Ah I would love to be able to eat a whole chocolate without the thought of gaining weight." One of the girls said with a dreamy look on her face. Anastasia smiled reassuringly.

"Well, if you exercised some more, then you could be able to eat as much as you wanted to." She stated matter-of-factly and the girl glared at her, making Luffy laugh at their funny conversations and little arguments.

"Hey, do any of you know anything about Zoro?" He asked all of a sudden and all of the girls looked at him from their argument on diets.

"Why do you want to know about him?" One of them asked curiously.

"Just because."

"Or maybe you fancy him?" the other said in a sing son voice, which made Luffy choke on his juice. His face heated up and he started to caught violently. "Oh, my god, are you ok?" The girl shouted, patting him on the back and received a slight nod. She let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry if that surprised you, but I assumed that you were gay, I mean, you always have that colourful bracelet with 'pride' written on it, and it's really hard to not notice, because of it's colour. Oh, my god, I'm sorry if I took that the wrong way, I mean-" The girl started babbling nervously, but Luffy waved his hand at her, when he finally calmed down.

"Don't worry, I am gay… it's just that, you know, you startled me with that question." He laughed nervously, still blushing. Anastasia grinned at that and finally spoke.

"From the way you reacted I assume that you indeed do fancy him." The blush crept its way onto Luffy's face again; he was not used to talking about his crushes to anyone and now it happen second time already. Guess he will have to get used to it after all. "But I don't think that he's gay." She said with and apologetic smile. "I mean, he didn't have any girlfriend as far as I know…" Luffy looked at her, hiding the hope in his eyes as best as he could. "Oh, well I'm not the one to tell, so I'll leave that for you to discover, Luffy," The boy muttered something under his breath and averted his big eyes from the staring girls.

"So you do know something about him, or not?" He asked finally, not wanting to embarrass himself again.

"Depends on what you want to know." The girls said with a sparkle in their eyes and knowing smiles. They knew every little gossip in this school and pretty much which were fake and which were real.

"I know that he plays drums. Is he good at it? Does he already have a band of his own and that's why he doesn't want to join mine?" The girls looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, right, so that thing you said on your first day about the band was for real?" Anastasia asked, somehow disbelieving.

"Of course it was!" Luffy shouted with a huge grin, all of a sudden really happy. The girls giggled.

"As far as we know, he doesn't play in any band and yes, he is really good, or at least there's a gossip that someone overheard him play in the music room after the classed ended. Either way, he never played in public and always refuses to, so I don't really know…" When Anastasia finished, Luffy was grinning so wide that it almost looked painful.

"Then I will find out how good he is!"

"Luffy, do you really think that a guy so popular and from the 3rd year will join your band?" One of the girls asked cautiously.

"Of course he will, he has no other choice!"

"And how will you make him?"

"Dunno." The girls looked at him with wary expressions and shook their heads. This boy was hopeless.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four_

Luffy walked down the empty corridor; the bell signalling the end of lunch rang few minutes ago, but Luffy didn't seem to care, as he walked slowly towards his next class. He didn't really care about any lessons and physics in particular, so he was reluctant to sit for another hour in a class that he understood nothing from. Of course he tried to understand it, but gave up after some time. This just wasn't for him. Coming back to reality, Luffy heard something behind him and he turned around slowly, feeling pain spread over his face. He stumbled back, but didn't fall; looking around alarmed, he noticed the guy from before, this time with four of his buddies. Holding his throbbing nose, Luffy grimaced at them and Bill cackled at the sight.

"So, fag, are you going to cry now?" He said, still smirking. Luffy looked at him, removing his hand from his face and grinned.

"Why would I cry from a little punch I didn't even feel?" Bill clenched his fists and moved forward.

"Don't think you're so funny, faggot." He growled and let his fists flow in every direction. Luffy easily dodged all of the punches, laughing at the irritated face of the other teen. Bill stopped all of a sudden and Luffy looked at him with a small smile, which made the other even more angry. "That's it! Guys get him!" He growled out and his buddies - who were standing calmly behind him the whole time - now started towards Luffy. He sighed, not really wanting to get a detention for being late for half of the lesson and it was about 10 minutes now, clenched his fists and punched the first one who was closest to him. The guy covered his eye, stumbling back and cursing Luffy under his breath. The black haired teen snickered at that, not noticing that two of the other guys got behind him, ready to grab his arms, which they did and Luffy turned his head towards them with a short 'hey!'. He tried to free himself, but they just tightened they grasp. Noticing that Bill was coming closer, Luffy started to throw his legs in the air, managing to kick one of the teens in the jaw. He stopped moving, looked at him and started laughing. Bill gritted his teeth and punched Luffy in the stomach, which knocked the air from his lungs and he glared at the other.

"The hell is your problem?" He said, annoyed that the guy wasn't playing fair.

"My problem is that you're a fag." Bill snarled, this time kicking Luffy.

"And you're a coward." Luffy muttered out, glaring. "Can't even fight me on your own." Bill laughed loudly, punching Luffy in the face. the impact made his face flow to the side and his hat from his head. "My hat!" He cried out, before he could help himself, when Bill stepped on it, not noticing that it landed beside him.

"Oh? This piece of shit?" Bill said with an evil grin on his face, getting the hat from the floor and waving it before Luffy's face.

"Give it back!" Luffy screamed, starting to kick his legs again and Bill laughed.

"You're so pathetic. What's so good about this shit?" He said, before stomping his foot on the straw hat again and again. This made Luffy mad, and his foot flew forward, kicking Bill in his private parts. He screamed, moving back and glared at Luffy. "That's it, you little fag-" Luffy titled his head to the side, when the teen fell to the ground all of a sudden. Then he noticed Zoro behind him and grinned.

"Hey, Zoro, would you get me my hat again?" He said cheerfully, still being held by the two guys. Zoro raised an eyebrow at him, but leaned forward to snatch the hat from the floor, putting it on his own head.

"The hell are you doing, kid?" He finally asked, looking around with a serious expression on his face, which made two of Bill's buddies run away in fear. But not the ones that held Luffy.

"Oh, nothing. Just kicking asses of some homophobes." Luffy grinned again and Zoro let out a short laugh.

"Looks more like them kicking your ass." Luffy pouted, and would have crossed his arms, if they weren't behind him.

"Well, they got me by surprise. But I would kick their asses in the end anyway!" He said and started to wriggle again, trying to free his arms. Zoro sighed, irritated and walked towards them. The two guys seemed scared and ready to flee, but Bill got up and snarled ant them to stay where they were.

"Hold that little fag for awhile, as I get the green freak." He said and started towards Zoro, who turned around with a grin and furrowed eyebrows, looking down at the younger teen.

"You're a funny one." He muttered out, before the teen could even attack him. He then punched the younger teen in the face. This made the guy fall to the floor and Luffy laughed behind them.

"Zoro, that was quick!" Luffy said still laughing and the two guys holding him let go of his arms and started to run away. He stumbled backwards, not expecting it, but quickly steadied himself. "But I told you I could take care of myself." He mumbled, this time crossing his arms and pouting.

"Yea, right." Zoro snickered. They turned their heads when they heard that Bill was getting up, groaning in the process. "You want more, idiot?" Zoro said dangerously, getting closer and the teen straightened himself and backed off few steps before speaking.

"The principal will be informed about all this!" He started, staring at the two. "And he's gonna throw you out of here."

"Right." Zoro said and Luffy looked at the guy with curiosity.

"He will! It is unacceptable to attack first years! He will throw you out of here because of that, and I've heard that you get into fights often, so that's gonna make it even easier!"

"Nobody's gonna believe you." Luffy said, looking back at Zoro. "Right, Zoro?" He said, somehow scared at the prospect of Zoro being kicked out of school.

"Oh, yes, they will. The principal's my father." Bill snickered and Zoro gritted his teeth.

"If you say a word, you're dead." He growled out, and the teen backed off even further, startled.

"I-I'm not scared of you!" He screamed, before running away. Zoro groaned and turned towards Luffy.

"See what you have done?" The younger teen said, looking up with his big eyes.

"Me? I saved your ass! It's your fault!"

"How is that my fault? I told you I didn't need your help!" Luffy said, offended, looking away. Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his short, but messy green hair.

"You were about to get your little ass kicked… He's probably not going to say anything anyway." He said, before turning around and walking away. Luffy huffed and walked in the other direction, towards his class. Great, now he was 30 minutes late and Zoro was mad at him.

* * *

He walked into his class, still irritated at what happened, not even bothering with going to the toilet first to clean the blood from his face. He slammed the door forcefully, just like in the first day, but this time the impact made a picture of particles fall from the wall and everyone looked in that direction, startled. Luffy walked towards his seat in long strands, his hat over his eyes, ignoring the stares of his classmates.

"What is this suppose to mean, Luffy?" The old teacher asked, adjusting his glasses. Luffy huffed at him, but didn't say a word. "Luffy! You are 30 minutes late for my lesson, walk in without apologising and explaining yourself?" The teacher hollered and when he still didn't get any reply, put his book forcefully onto the desk and opened his mouth again. "Detention!" He said, trying to calm himself down. Luffy put the hat even more over his face and shrugged. From the other end of the room, Anastasia looked at him with a worried expression. "To the principal's office, now!" She jumped in her seat, startled at the teacher's harshness and glanced at Luffy again, frowning. He got up quietly and without a word got out of the classroom. But before that, Anastasia noticed a big red bruise under his eye and some dried blood on his face. She gasped, but stayed in her place, watching as her new friend walked out angrily.

* * *

Luffy noticed Zoro sitting in one of the chairs by the principal's office and frowned. He walked towards him carefully and plopped himself down next to the green haired teen. Zoro glanced at him and raised his eyebrow.

"What are you doing here, kid?" He asked and Luffy stared at him, trying to read his mind, or at least find out if he was still mad at him. "Luffy?" He jumped and blinked, when Zoro called him by his name. Grinning he explained what happened in the classroom.

"What were you thinking?" Zoro said, sighing.

"Well, you were mad at me, so I kinda got a bit irritated." He muttered out, looking at his lap and playing with the string of his hoodie.

"Kid, I never said I was mad at you." Zoro growled and Luffy looked at him.

"But I know you were. You still are, probably."

"Maybe a bit." Zoro sighed again. "But it is kinda my fault, I could have just left you there to get beaten up." He said angrily, looking at the smaller teen.

"I told you, I would be just fine!"

"Pf, and how is that?"

"Dunno… Wait. What are you doing here?"

"That little piece of shit probably told his daddy that he was punched in that ugly face of his, after all."

"So are you going to be expelled now?" Luffy screamed, getting as close to Zoro as possible. The older teen pushed him away and Luffy fell from his chair, face first onto the floor. He got up quickly and shoved his face in Zoro's again.

"Don't be so irritating." Zoro said and slapped the other's forehead. Luffy yelped and moved away.

"Oi, I'm hurt already, without you harassing my poor face!"

"It's your fault for being a little, annoying brat!"

"I'm not little! And it's your fault! Stop being so annoyed all of the time!"

"Shut it, kid, or I won't be that nice anymore." Zoro growled out and Luffy stuck his tongue out, which made the other even more irritated, veins throbbing on his head dangerously.

"If you'll join my band, I can get you out of this." Luffy said confidently.

"And how will you do that?"

"Just somehow."

"I'm not joining your little band and I don't need your pity. It was all your fault, anyway!"

"It was not!" Glaring daggers at each other, both were ready to kick the other's ass, when the door opened and the principal walked out, scanning the room with a serious expression. Both teens muttered cursed under their breath, before moving away. The principal cleared his throat and they glared at him for interrupting.

"Roronoa Zoro, get in my office, now." He said with a dangerous face and Zoro stood up reluctantly, ready to be thrown out of school, when Luffy jumped up from his seat, running up to them.

"Mr. Principal! It was not his fault! He was just saving my- I mean, he was helping me!"

"Are you saying that my son was attacking you?" The principal said, looking down at Luffy, who gulped nervously.

"Uh… I meant… I got a bit carried away, because he was laughing at me for being gay." Luffy pointed at his bracelet and continued. "And I punched him and then Zoro saw us and he stopped me just in time. So it wasn't his fault." The principal looked at both teens, considering something, finally sighing.

"Fine. If it was your fault and as it is your first fight you will only get a detention for three days." Luffy sighed and nodded. "But what were you doing here in the first place?"

"I was just late for class?" He said with a small smile.

"One week of detention then. And you Zoro," Zoro's eyes snapped from staring intensely at Luffy. "One week of detention for you, too."

"What? Why?"

"Would you rather be expelled?"

"Uh, no, that's fine." Zoro muttered out and the principal smiled to himself.

"Great. Your detention starts from today. I want to see you both in here after classes end." He said and walked back into his office. Zoro glared at Luffy, who grinned.

"Not gonna thank me?" He said, with that impossibly huge smile back on his face.

"Thanks." Zoro muttered out, sighing. "But I'm not joining your band, kid." He added, flicking Luffy's hat off his head and ruffling his messy hair.

"Hey!" Luffy screamed, catching his hat and putting it back on his head. He looked around, when he noticed Zoro was no longer in front of him, but walking away already. "Oi!" He screamed after him, and Zoro turned his head and smirked.

"But thanks again, anyway." He said and Luffy pouted, stomping his foot on the floor. "Luffy." He added, winking and disappeared behind the corner, leaving a red faced Luffy alone.

"_Baka_." Luffy stuttered out, before walking away, still blushing.


	6. Chapter 5

__Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews, I seriously didn't think anyone would like this story, but I'm happy it isn't so bad as i thought!

* * *

_Chapter Five_

They stood in front of the principal, staring at him like he had grown a second head. Zoro with a frown on his face, brows furrowed and Luffy with a blank stare.

"Understood?" The man asked, and they both nodded tiredly. "Then get going." He said before walking away. Zoro glared at the smaller teen.

"I would prefer to be expelled." He muttered out, picking up the bucket full of water and one of the available sponges. Luffy shrugged and grinned. They had to clean the graffiti in all of the bathrooms for the whole week. And that was a lot, considering that writing on the stalls was the most exciting way of spending lunch for some of the students.

"No, you wouldn't. And now you have to join my band." Luffy said happily, scrubbing at the walls.

"I am not joining your band! Get that through your thick skull."

"_Yadda_. You are joining my band." Zoro rubbed at one of the stalls angrily, almost making a hole in it. This kid was starting to get on his nerves with that statements of his. He opened his mouth to say something, but turned around curiously, when he heard a soft, quiet voice. He stopped what he was doing and stared at Luffy's back, earphones in his ears, singing quietly to the music only he was able to hear. Zoro got closer and recognised that the kid was singing 'Give me novacaine' by Green Day. He stood there, staring at Luffy's back with a small smile on his face. The younger boy turned around and jump up, startled by the close proximity.

"You're really good." Zoro said and Luffy blushed, but grinned at him confidently.

"Of course I am! I wouldn't want to form a band if I wasn't." He said in a childish voice and Zoro snickered, shaking his head and going back to what he was supposed to be doing. "So, will you join my band now?" Luffy said excitedly.

"Nope."

"Why not?" Luffy whined, throwing the sponge into the bucket forcefully, splashing the water around himself.

"I have my reasons." Zoro replied, still with his back to the boy and Luffy frowned at the hint of sadness in the other's voice.

"I don't care about your past, or whatever had happened that you don't want to join my band," Zoro turned around to stare at the boy, when he heard the seriousness in his voice. His face was also as serious. "but it's stupid to just hold onto the past, when you are obviously good at what you're doing and I'm sure that you like doing it." Zoro frowned when the boy finished and averted his eyes.

"It's about my friend." He muttered out, but even when Luffy didn't force him to continue, he just had to tell the boy. He had that something in his eyes. "I was in a band before. She was the singer and I played the drums with a couple of our other friends playing the guitar and bass. We had a lot of fun. We promised each other that we'll always be together. But then she had an accident. She died and the band split up. Of course I practiced even after it all ended, but I told myself that I will not betray her, so I just played at my house, alone. I still wanted to be the best, but when anybody asked me to join their band I always refused, without giving them any reasons as to why. But they just shrugged it off, unlike you." He finished, sighing. Luffy stared at him with a blank expression on his face and slightly opened mouth. He averted his eyes, nodding slowly.

"I understand. But don't you think that she would be happy for you? If you did what you loved? You promised her that you'd always play together. But she's gone and it won't be betraying her if you wanted to go on with your dream." Luffy whispered, determination in his voice, still not looking at the green haired teen.

"I will join your band." Zoro said after a long silence and Luffy's head snapped up to look him in the eyes. "But first you have to find other members for it to work, don't you think?" He asked with a sigh and Luffy frowned.

"How did you know I didn't have any one else?"

"Well I didn't, but now I know. And anyway, you're just so loud and happy all of the time that probably the whole school heard about you already." Luffy grinned at him and bent down to get the sponge and start what they had abandoned because of their little conversation. Zoro shook his head, but copied the younger teen with a small smile creeping its way onto his face, without him even noticing.

* * *

"_Muri, muri, muri_! I don't believe you." The next day Coby was back at school and sitting with his friend at one of the tables in the cafeteria. Luffy grinned at him and he sighed. "I'm not in for one day, and you already get yourself into detention and make Zoro join your band? You're just…uh, I don't even know…"

"But it's true. Isn't it great?"

"Not the part about the detention."

"Well yea, but the one about Zoro is!"

"What about Zoro?" asked Anastasia, who now stood before the two with a grin on her face. Coby furrowed his brows at her and Luffy laughed.

"Oh, right! I also made some new friends." Luffy said happily, like a little kid.

"Yup, yup, so? What about the guy?" Anastasia repeated impatiently.

"I made him join my band!" Luffy screamed out, bouncing in his seat.

"What? When did you do that and more importantly, how?" The girl asked, excitedly, sitting next to Luffy, who grinned at her proudly and explained what happened yesterday second time this day, of course without the details such as Zoro's secret. Anastasia gasped with a sparkle in her eye.

"Oh, my god, Luffy, you really are something!" She said, giggling. "Oh, well I have to go now, but I will see you around!" She said and got up, disappearing in the crowd.

"You know, you could have just found yourself someone else, without getting yourself in detention for that." Coby muttered, but smiled at his friend. Now he knew that the boy was serious about his dream and was ready to do anything to get what he wanted.

"But I wanted Zoro."

"Does it have something to do with the fact that you were drooling over him in that gym class?" Coby asked, holding back a laugh, as Luffy's face heated up with embracement.

"This has nothing to do with the fact that I was drooling over him!" He screamed and Coby wasn't able to contain his laughter any more. He was about to say that the boy wasn't denying the drooling part, when someone interrupted him.

"Who were you drooling over, Luffy?" Coby looked up to see an amused Zoro standing behind Luffy. The boy turned his head around slowly, still red in the face and smiled innocently.

"Nobody." He squeaked out and covered his face in the shadow of his precious hat. Coby stared as Zoro started laughing and plopped himself beside Luffy.

"Why is your friend always so tense when I'm around?" He asked and Coby choked on his own spit.

"Ah, don't mind him, he's always like that." Luffy said, happy to be able to get away from the embracing subject. "His name's Coby."

"Nice to meet you, Coby." Zoro said and Coby looked at him cautiously, but shook his hand after few seconds.

"Well, anyway," Zoro started, directing his dark eyes back to Luffy. "if you really want that band to work, get your lazy ass and go find us some guitarists." He said and Luffy stuck out his tongue at the older teen.

"Yea, yea, I will." He said with a bored expression. "But how?" And added innocently a few seconds later, looking at Zoro with his big eyes. Zoro sighed and shrugged.

"You could write a note or something and stick in on the announcements board." Coby said and the other teens looked at him with raised brows.

"Exactly." Zoro and Luffy said at the same time, Luffy smacking his fist on his other hand and Coby smiled reassuringly.

"So, what are we going to write on it?" Luffy asked and Zoro shrugged again.

"You come up with something."

"_Yadda_. I don't know. You do it."

"No, you do it."

"No-"

"Oh, just write that you're looking for a guitarist and a bassist for your band!" Coby interrupted them with irritation in his voice and they both looked at him again.

"Yeah." Zoro nodded.

"Oi, Coby, do you wanna be our manager?" Luffy asked with a huge grin and Zoro blinked at him. Coby face palmed himself, but sighed and nodded.

"Yes, sure, why not." He muttered out, before getting up, as the bell signalling the end of lunch exploded evilly.

* * *

Luffy was walking, or rather bouncing down the school's hall with a happy smile on his face, when he noticed a lone orange haired girl standing by the announcements board and staring intently at the note they left there just yesterday. He run up to her enthusiastically and she turned to look at him with a wary expression on her face.

"What do you want?" She asked him, as he kept staring at her with those huge eyes of his.

"Were you reading the note about the guitarist?" He asked excitedly, bouncing next to her and she raised her brows at him sceptically.

"Don't tell me it's yours." She asked flatly and Luffy nodded quickly. "Who are you, anyway? Never seen you here before."

"I'm new."

"First year?"

"Yup"

"Oh, well then, I will pass." She said and started walking away.

"Wait!" He whined and she turned around, annoyed.

"Sorry, little boy, but I am not going to embarrass myself by joining a band of little kids. And anyway you're probably not even serious about it, and I hoped for some money." She muttered out, continuing her walk. Luffy run up to her, still grinning.

"But I am serious! We are going to be famous! And now when I have Zoro I'm sure about that even more as-"

"Did you just said Zoro? You mean Roronoa Zoro?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course! Do you know him?" He asked with a pleasant smile. She narrowed her eyes.

"As if I'm gonna believe you. Roronoa Zoro is the best drummer in this shitty, small town. Like he'd join your band." She said with a smirk.

"You heard him play?" Luffy asked, excitedly and she looked at him with raised eyebrows. Did he not understand what she just told him? Why was he still smiling like that?

"Of course I did, boy. I live next to his house and I have to witness that every evening, because he doesn't care that some people want some peace and quiet time." She muttered out, irritated and Luffy looked at her, amazed.

"That's so cool! He really practices every day?"

"Yes. Now get your ass away from me. There is no way that he joined you band." She repeated and looked at the boy, who never stopped smiling that huge smile. She found herself relaxing at the sight and wondered what is up with this kid.

"Well, you don't have to believe me, you can always see for yourself. Come with me!" Luffy said with excitement building up inside him at the thought of another band member, grabbing her hand and dragging her in the direction only he knew about.

"If this is some kind of a joke, boy, then I will kick your sorry ass." She growled out, but followed Luffy anyway.

* * *

"Zoro, Zoro, Zoro, Zoro!" The green haired teen looked in the direction of the voice with an annoyed expression on his face and saw Luffy with some ginger girl walk into the cafeteria and to where he was sitting with his friend. The guy grinned at him and Zoro smacked him over the head with his hand.

"The heck are you always doing this for?" He screamed, rubbing the pained place.

"Because I love to hurt you, Sam." He muttered out, glaring. His friend just grinned again. He already met Luffy and that other kid and found out from the over hyper boy that he finally got Zoro to join his band, for which he got smacked in the forehead, but Zoro didn't deny it, so Sam just congratulated both of them. He was the only one that Zoro told about why he never wanted to join any band and it seems that the kid interested him so much, that he decided to let go of his past and give it a try. He smiled knowingly and Zoro smacked him again at the same time Luffy and that orange haired girl walked up to their table. She looked at all of them somehow suspiciously, with a smirk on her face.

"Zoro, look, I found us a guitarist! You play guitar, right?" Luffy stopped suddenly, looking at the girl, who looked at him like he was some kind of a rare type of an idiot. She nodded with a sigh and Luffy grinned again. She looked at Zoro with an expectant stare. Now was the time to have some fun, as he is going to kick the kid for talking to him.

"That's great, Luffy." Her smirk disappeared, when she heard Zoro speak in a bored voice, but still smiling at the younger teen. Her jaw dropped. "Close your mouth, girl. So, you want to join our band?" Zoro asked, averting his gaze from Luffy reluctantly and looking at the girl. He just loved to look at that bright smile of his.

"Uh, yeah…" The girl said, still shocked. How the hell did this kid made Zoro join his band? He must be really good at whatever he's doing, she thought.

"Then get a move on." She heard Zoro's cold voice and furrowed her brows at him.

"Where to?"

"Music room!" Luffy screamed and grabbed her hand again, dragging her towards the music room.

"I know where that is!" She said, getting her hand back, but giggled at the childish teen running in front of her.

"Why do you want to join?" She glanced at the green haired teen walking calmly beside her and sighed.

"I need money. If you don't intend on playing anywhere else than your garage, then I am not joining you." She said fiercely. Zoro grinned at her.

"You saw the kid. He wants to be in the best band ever formed. Of course we're not going to stay in the garage." He said, pointing towards Luffy, who was far before them, running happily through the hall. She grinned back.

"But you know that if you're not going to be good enough I'm not in it?"

"I could say the same thing." Zoro said and the girl smiled at him confidently.

* * *

They walked into the music room without anyone noticing and the girl found one of the guitars laying forgotten in the corner, picked it up and sat down at one of the tables. Zoro stood in the entrance casually with a small grin and Luffy was jumping next to him with an excited one. She started playing and Zoro glanced at his younger friend, who stopped bouncing in place and stood transfixed in place, with his mouth hanging open. Zoro smiled at the sight and looked back at the girl just as she finished.

"Well?" She asked with a smile. She knew she was good.

"You're in!" Luffy screamed while a huge smile spread over his face and Zoro just nodded with a smirk.

"Well then," She said, getting up and placing the guitar delicately in her previous place. "Zoro, it's your turn." Zoro looked at her confused and she smiled. "The kid never actually heard you play, did he?" She asked and Luffy opened his eyes wide.

"Right!" He screamed out, turning his attention to Zoro. "Zoro, play something for me! I wanna see how good you are!" He demanded with a pout and Zoro couldn't say no, so he moved towards the school's drum set and thought for a moment. Then he started to play and the orange haired girl smiled to herself. When he stopped he looked up at Luffy, who stood there with flushed face and a sparkle in his big eyes. Zoro cocked his eyebrow at him and Luffy jumped up, coming back from his daze. He looked at his feet, ashamed of the thoughts that flooded his mind as he stared at the other's muscled arms and the way they tensed when he hit the plates. Taking a long breath he looked back at Zoro, who stared at him with strange expression crossing his face.

"Luffy?" He said and the boy blushed again. The girl laughed quietly to herself at the sight, and the oblivious look on the older teen's face made her burst out laughing uncontrollably. Zoro looked at her with irritation evident on his face.

"What?" He snapped and she wiped at the tears forming in her eyes.

"Nothing. Just, ah, never mind." She said, still laughing.

"Zoro!" She jumped, startled, as the boy shouted at the top of his lungs and Zoro looked at him with a questioning look. "_Suge_! That was great! You're so awesome!" Luffy started to shout out, jumping up and down, like a fan girl, with a small blush on his face. Zoro grinned and the girl snickered.

"Anyway." She said, interrupting the words of praise, which seemed to go on and on, flowing from Luffy's lips without a pause. "My name's Nami." Luffy finally paused, looked at her with a blank expression and then smiled one of his biggest smiles and she just had to smile back.

"Welcome to our band, then." Zoro said and she smirked at him, the green haired teen smirking back.


	7. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six_

"Guys. That's it. If you are not going to get your lazy asses up and find us some bassist, then I am-"

"Yes, yes, Nami, we know. You repeated that over and over again for the last…what was it? Right, two days." Zoro said with a bored expression and got a smack in the head. "Do you really have to do this?" He shouted, rubbing his head. Sam snickered beside him and he glared at his friend.

"Now you know how I feel! Will you stop harassing my head now?"

"Nope." Zoro replied, smacking his friend in the neck without a reason. Sam huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Luffy, did you find anyone?" Zoro asked, ignoring his friend completely. Luffy shook his head with a pout on his face.

"No one seems to play any instruments in this school!" He whined, pushing five hamburgers at a time into his mouth. This time it was him who received a smack over the head.

"Stop eating like a pig!" Nami scolded him, and he looked at her with a sheepish smile, swallowing his food quickly.

"You could always look for someone from outside the school." Coby said, eating his lunch calmly and everyone looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing. You're right." Nami replied, "But those lazy asses can't do anything on their own!" She growled, staring at Zoro and Luffy, both of them just shrugging her off.

* * *

They were walking through the empty hall, Nami in front with Zoro, Luffy, Sam and Coby following short after like the good puppies they were.

"Do we have to go there now?" Zoro said with irritation in his voice, but followed the girl nonetheless. She glared at all of them.

"Yes, we do, I left my guitar in there and you want to practice, so how am I supposed to practice? On an air guitar, you idiots?"

"But my bus…"

"You can walk." She said and Luffy stuck his tongue at her when she turned her back to them.

"You could get it yourself." Zoro pointed out, cautiously as to not get slapped. Sam nodded.

"Help a lady here, morons."

"Why did we even agreed to let her be in our band?"

"Because I'm awesome and you all know it. Anyway, move your asses, you're too slow." They were walking towards music room to get Nami's guitar, as she left it there the other day. It was already the end of classes and Luffy was whining behind her that he'll have to walk in the rain now, because his bus already left. Sam and Coby didn't even know why they were dragged into it, too; they weren't even in the band. They got to the classroom and Nami opened the door, quickly walking inside. She stopped abruptly, making Luffy walk into her and the rest stopped just in time to not collide with each other.

"Why did you-" Zoro started, irritated, but she shushed him, waving her hand at him and pointing the other in the direction of the dark room. Zoro was about to say something when they heard someone was inside, playing bass and they looked at each other with raised eyebrows, noticing how good this person was. Luffy jumped in his placed excited and run further in, looking around and everyone followed short after.

"Who's there?" An unknown voice stuttered out, stopping abruptly. Nami noticed a guy standing in the corner with school's bass guitar, staring at them with eyes wide open.

"Was it you playing just now?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Of course it was him, moron; there's no one else in here." Nami snapped and directed her eyes towards the long nosed guy. "Who are you?" She demanded and the teen blinked at her, startled.

"I'm Usopp." He said cautiously, putting the guitar back with the others. "And you are?"

"I'm Nami. And those idiots are Luffy, Zoro, Sam and Coby." She replied pointing at each of them as she spoke. Usopp nodded and walked up to them slowly.

"What do you want?" He asked and Nami shrugged, walking past him to snatch her guitar and started to walk towards the door.

"Do you want do join our band?" She smiled to herself, she already knew the kid would ask that the first chance he gets. Usopp stared at him, shocked by the sudden question, but then shook his head violently.

"No. No, thanks."

"Why not? You're so good!" Luffy whined and looked at Zoro for some support. The older teen glared at Usopp, which made him jump and start sweating.

"Uh…I… already have my own band!" He screamed out, grinning and praising himself in his head. Luffy pouted.

"Shame." He muttered out and was about to walk away, when Nami's voice stopped him.

"Lies, lies, lies." She said smugly and the guy looked at her with mouth hanging open. How did she found out he was lying?

"Lies? He's lying?" Luffy asked in disbelief and Nami grinned, which made the long nosed guy sweat even more.

"Of course he is." She said confidently, staring the teen in the eyes. He gulped nervously.

"How do you know?" Usopp screamed out, glaring at her accusingly and she just shrugged.

"I just know you."

"No, you don't know me, I don't recognise you." Usopp looked at her strangely.

"You may not know me, but I know you."

"Do you know every single person in this school?" Zoro muttered out and Nami nodded.

"Indeed I do. I got my ways. And I know that he's lying, there's no one with a rock band in the whole school. Actually, there's no one with a band of any kind." She said with evident irritation in her voice.

"Well, now there is!" Luffy screamed out, making Usopp glare at him, startled.

"Yea, finally I'll get some money." Nami said with a spark in her eyes, rubbing her hands together.

"Why is this woman so crazy about money…" Sam muttered out.

"Well, well, you seem to know a lot. My lying won't help me this time." Usopp whispered and seemed to consider something. "Anyway, I will not join your band because of reasons." He stated and was about to get out of there, but Nami grabbed him by the shirt, pulling hard. He stumbled backwards, almost falling.

"You. Are. Going. To. Join. Us". She said dangerously and Usopp looked around himself, alarmed. The strange kid with a straw hat was staring at him with a huge grin on his face, the scary green haired one was scowling and the other two just looked at the girl like they were scared of her themselves. "I need money, and I need them quick, but without a bassist there's no way of us to actually do something." She growled out and Usopp swallowed nervously. He felt his legs already start to wobble.

"I-I-I… cannot!" He stuttered out, pulling his shirt away from the crazy girl and running out of the room. Everyone stared after him with blank expressions.

"Oh, well, that didn't go too well." Sam stated and Zoro shrugged. Luffy pouted and looked at Nami.

"You scared him off."

"It's his fault for being such a pussy." She said and walked out angrily, the rest following short after.

* * *

"Zoro, you're giving me a ride home." Luffy stated happily and Zoro glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Nami said, still frustrated and stormed off towards the exit of the school.

"Bye." Luffy said, waving at her, as she disappeared behind a corner. The rest of them walked together to the parking lot, except for Coby, who walked in the same direction Nami did, as he didn't have a car. Sam got to his car and waved at the two, driving away quickly. Zoro sighed and got in his car, glaring at Luffy who had some trouble with climbing the huge machine. Irritated, he grabbed the teen by his hoodie and lifted him up easily. Luffy grinned at him, adjusting his hat, which was about to fall off his head, when he was lifted.

"Nee, Zoro, do you think that this guy with a long nose gonna join us?"

"He said no."

"I know, you said no, too." Luffy said and grinned at the irritated expression on his friend's face.

"And it should have stayed that way." He teased and Luffy pouted, turning his head to stare out the window.

"I wonder why he doesn't want to join us."

"You heard him. Because of reasons."

"He can shove his reasons up his ass." Luffy muttered under his breath and Zoro stared at him, almost crashing the car in the process. He quickly fixed his eyes back to the road and burst out laughing. "What?" Luffy snapped at him, red in the face.

"Nothing. You just always find a way to surprise me." He said, still laughing and Luffy smacked him in the back of the head lightly.

"Zoro?"

"Yea?

"Can I go to yours today?" He asked innocently, flashing a cute smile at the green haired teen.

"Why?"

"Because I can't cook."

"So?"

"So I will starve." Luffy said, but when Zoro looked at him quizzically, he explained himself. "My parents aren't home and they didn't leave me any food!" He whined and Zoro smacked his head on the steering wheel.

"Why didn't you say so before, I'm on the way to your house!" He muttered out, with his forehead still on the wheel.

"Zoro, the lights."

"What lights?" Zoro snapped and lifted his head to glare at Luffy, who pointed to the front.

"The lights changed. It's green now." Luffy pointed out and Zoro groaned, driving away to the irritated shouts of other drivers behind him.

* * *

Nami was walking nervously around her room in circles, thinking intensely for about an hour now. Finally she sighed and walked out of the room quickly. She walked past a dimmed room with doors slightly open, but slowed down, shook her head and walked into the room quietly. She stopped by the bed and smiled sadly.

"We'll be fine." She whispered out, before leaning in and kissing a sleeping woman on the forehead. She stoop up straight, smiled again and left the room as quietly as she could.

* * *

"Zoro, when are we going to eat? I'm hungry!" Luffy was sitting next to the other teen on his bed, staring at everything with interest. Zoro sighed annoyed, opening one eye to look at the teen. He was about to fall asleep on his comfortable bed, but Luffy wouldn't shut up for even a second.

"I told you two minutes ago that we ordered pizza and we have to wait at least 20 minutes." he snapped and turned his face to the wall, closing his eyes again. "Anyway, you could have ordered some pizza at your own house." He muttered out into the pillow. Luffy grinned, shrugging.

"But I wanted to spend more time with you. And I have no money anyway." He said happily, looking down at the older teen.

"That's great." Zoro said absently, already falling out of consciousness and ready to fall asleep completely. Luffy looked at him with an expectant stare, but when he noticed that the teen was turned with his back to him and trying to fall asleep, he got up with a grin on his face.

"No sleeping while Luffy's around!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, jumping at Zoro from his place by the bed. Zoro snapped his eyes open when something hit him hard, knocking all air from his lungs. He groaned and looked up to see Luffy on top of him with his huge grin.

"Luffy, what the hell are you doing?" He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Waking you up. You can't sleep now."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm here. And I'm bored."

"That's your problem. You can sleep, too" Zoro said and closed his eyes again, not bothering with getting the teen off of himself, as he knew he would struggle and Zoro wanted to finally take his damn nap. The kid wasn't heavy anyway.

"Oi! I told you not to fall asleep!" Luffy shouted, and grabbed Zoro's cheeks, pulling at them. Luffy yelped, when strong arms were wrapped around his waist, lifting him up and then suddenly slamming him into the soft mattress. He opened his eyes and looked at Zoro who was hovering above him with dangerous expression on his face. Luffy smiled innocently, but that didn't seem to calm the other down even a little bit.

"I won't do it again?" Luffy said, or rather asked weakly.

"Damn well you won't." Zoro snapped, staring at the boy beneath him. Damn it, he looked too cute. When Zoro realised what he was thinking, he groaned loudly, making Luffy jump up and tense, when the older teen let his face fall onto his shoulder, sighing tiredly. He stayed like that for a few minutes and Luffy thought nervously what to do next with a blush on his face. When he was about to say something, he heard the door open and he looked in that direction. Nami stood by the door frame staring and them.

"Right. I won't interrupt you, then." She said and was about to walk away, when Luffy stopped her.

"Wait!" He squeaked, his face even more red now. When he noticed that Zoro didn't look up when the girl entered his room, he realised that the teen had fallen asleep on him. "Bastard." He said and calmed down a bit, the blush disappearing completely. He looked back at Nami.

"What did you want?" He asked with his trade mark grin and the girl smiled a bit.

"I just wanted to hang out." She said shrugging and at that Luffy jumped off the bed, making Zoro fall to the ground with a loud thud. He moaned in pain, opening his eyes.

"What the fuck." He said, directing his eyes towards Nami, who grinned at both of the teens.

"Hi there, I was about to go home, since you were a bit busy, but never mind." Nami said with a knowing smirk on her face and Zoro stared at her like he was about to kill. And he probably would, but he was interrupted.

"Saved by the bell!" Nami screamed, fist bumping the air.

"My pizza's here!" Luffy sang happily, running out of the room and down the stairs to get his food. Nami followed him quickly and Zoro sighed, slamming his head on the floor and closing his eyes.

* * *

"How did you get in here, anyway?" Zoro asked Nami, as he stared at Luffy who ate the whole pizza and now was stealing another slice from the other teen.

"The door was open and when I rang the door bell no one answered, so I let myself in." She said, shrugging.

"You live on this street, too, right?" Luffy muffled out with mouthful of pizza and the girl nodded silently. She looked out the window, sighing.

"What is it?" Zoro asked, covering his concern by asking the girl in a cold voice. She looked at him surprised, but smiled.

"Nothing. I wonder when will we find a bassist." She said lightly and the green haired teen looked at her suspiciously, but didn't say anything else.

"I'm full!" Luffy shouted happily, breaking the tense silence. Zoro glared at him.

"I would be surprised if you weren't. You ate half of my pizza!" Luffy giggled, got up and walked towards the kitchen. He was back in few minutes with three drinks in his hands. He plopped himself down on the couch again, between Zoro and Nami, and reached for the remote, turning the TV on.

"Really? Cartoons?" Nami asked with a disbelieving look on her face and Luffy grinned at her.

"Yup. Everybody likes cartoons!" Luffy said happily, bouncing on the couch. as his favourite one was about to start. "Right, Zoro? It's Flapjack time!"

"Right." Zoro muttered out, closing his eyes, ready to fall asleep again and Nami giggled at the sight.


	8. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

It was Saturday, so Zoro could finally sleep as long as he wished. Right now he was laying peacefully in his comfy bed, drooling over his poor pillow. In the other room, down the stairs Luffy was turning around on the couch, mumbling incoherent words. They decided that Luffy's going to sleep over, as Zoro was too lazy to give him a ride home and Luffy didn't want to walk in the cold. Luffy turned on his back abruptly, but felt nothing beneath him and fell to the floor loudly and painfully. He opened his eyes quickly, looking around. When he remembered where he was, he calmed down, got up and walked in the direction of the kitchen, opening the fridge and looking inside hungrily. When he notice only some butter, he closed it with a pout and started to rummage through every cupboard in search of something to eat. When he found nothing, he muttered something under his breath and started to walk up the stairs and towards Zoro's room.

* * *

Zoro sighed peacefully in his sleep, but suddenly he felt someone shook him violently and he swatted at it with his hand instinctively.

"Ow!" When he heard Luffy's childish voice, he opened his eyes and looked up to see Luffy holding his poor nose with both hands.

"What do you want?"

"Food." Luffy said and Zoro gritted his teeth. That was to be expected.

"What time is it?"

"It's already eight." Luffy said and Zoro was ready to smack the boy in the nose again.

"Already? It's weekend! I sleep on weekend till twelve. So go back down, I'm not getting up." He said impatiently and Luffy pouted.

"But I'm hungry."

"Not my problem."

"Yes it is! It's your fridge that's empty!" Luffy whined.

"Go buy something, then." Zoro snapped, getting annoyed.

"I don't have any money with me."

"Take mine. It's in my backpack." Zoro said, covering his face in the sheets to shield his eyes from the sun. And the cute, demanding pout on the other's face.

"Fine!" Luffy said, sulking and walking up to the corner where Zoro left his backpack. He snatched it from the floor with childish offence and took out the money, going out of the room and of course slamming the door as loud as it was possible. The vein on Zoro's forehead pulsed dangerously.

Luffy walked down the street, whistling and looking around. Now, where was a shop here? He was in this part of the town only 2 times and it was only inside Zoro's house, anyway. He shivered at the early cold wind that blew hard and he had to hold onto his hat, so it wouldn't be blown away from his messy head. He walked for about 10 minutes, not really knowing where to; but he wasn't bothered. Finally he spotted a small supermarket in front of him and he grinned, walking in that direction. When he was inside, he wondered what to buy. It's not like he's going to be doing anything fancy anyway, so he just shrugged and strode in search of some nutella. Nutella is always good, he thought with a smile. When he finally found it, he also grabbed some popcorn and bread and walked to pay for his food. He stood in the line, absently staring at some old lady who was arguing with a poor cashier that the cheese was supposed to be cheaper, when someone bumped into him and dropped all of their things. Luffy looked at the apples on the floor and then back at the person who started to collect them franticly. He noticed something and smiled all of a sudden.

"It's you!" He shouted and some of the people snapped their heads in his direction, but he just shrugged, still staring at the person next to him, who was now straightening himself and looking up at Luffy. Usopp opened his mouth in disbelief. Only he could have that little luck. He gulped, staring at the boy.

"It's me. And me has to go now." He said, ready to flee, but Luffy stopped him.

"Wait. I want to talk to you." He said happily and Usopp sighed with defeat.

"Fine. Let's pay and go to the park near the supermarket." He muttered out, not even knowing why he agreed so easily. Stupid kid with his stupid happy grin.

"There's a park near?" Luffy shouted excitedly and Usopp glared at him to shut up and stop attracting attention.

* * *

They sat on one of the benches in the park and Luffy stared at his nutella longingly.

"What do you wanted to talk about?" Usopp snapped and Luffy stopped drooling over the heavenly food and looked at the other with a smile.

"Right. Why don't you want to join our band?" He got straight to the point. He always does. Usopp gritted his teeth.

"Because I have my reasons!"

"And what are those?" Usopp grabbed his hair and started to pull at them, frustrated.

"Will you stop it already? I don't want to join your stupid band!" He screamed out at the other teen, who titled his head to the side staring at him.

"Yes, you do." He stated, still staring, and Usopp almost fell from the bench. Is his lying really that bad?

"Who told you?" he muttered out and Luffy stared at him with shocked expression.

"What? So you want to? If you want to, then why do you not want to?" He asked, confusion crossing his features and Usopp stared at him strangely.

"You said I want to in the first place! So do you know that I want, to or do you not?"

"Well, now you said you do, so I do."

"Uh! I can't talk with you!" Usopp said, irritated, covering his face in his hands.

"Never mind that." Luffy said with a happy grin. "So if you want to, then why won't you? We told you that you are good."

"I am not!" Usopp said flatly and Luffy blinked at him.

"Yes, you are."

"I am not."

"Yes, you-"

"Oh, shut up already!" Usopp screamed out and there was a silence for about 3 minutes before Luffy opened his mouth again.

"But you are."

"Fine! Al right! I might be, if you want to so badly! Whatever! But I'm not joining your band!"

"Why?"

"Will you ever give up?"

"Nope." Luffy said and grinned at the frustrated teen. Usopp mumbled something under his breath and Luffy frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said that I'm scared of public performances!" He said so quickly, that Luffy almost didn't catch it. It was silent for some time and Usopp looked up. Luffy smiled at him, his smile was so big that it almost seemed impossible to smile like that.

"If you try, you can get through your fear." Luffy said, still smiling. Usopp sighed and got up.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can do that."

"Okay. Do you want to hang out?" Luffy asked and Usopp stared at him, before nodding and Luffy grinned.

"_Yosh_! Let's go then!" He said happily, walking out of the park, but stopped suddenly. Usopp looked at him questioningly. "Wait. I think I'm lost." Luffy said, scratching at the back of his head and Usopp face palmed himself.

"Where did you want to go in the first place?" He asked in hopes he could help.

"To Zoro's!" Luffy said with a dreamy smile and the long nosed teen raised one brow at him.

"And that is where exactly?"

"If I knew I wouldn't be lost, would I!"

"Don't you know the address?" Usopp asked hopefully and received a blank stare. "Part of it…?"

"…Wait! I think I know the street! Yes! Come on!" Usopp let out a relieved sigh and walked in the direction of the street, Luffy following him happily.

* * *

Zoro was still laying in his bed, snoring loudly when Luffy run in and jumped on top of him screaming.

"Get off me, Luffy, or I'm gonna rape you." He muttered out still not opening his eyes. Luffy giggled and stuck his tongue out. Someone cleared their throat and Zoro opened one eye to look in that direction to see the long nosed guy standing by the door awkwardly.

"Luffy, why is he here?" Zoro asked, sitting up with the other teen still on his lap.

"I met him in the supermarket. He's gonna hang out with us." Luffy said, getting up and walking towards the door. "Get up already, I've got nutella!" He shouted out on his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Usopp still stood in the same spot, staring.

"Did he say nutella?" Zoro asked and Usopp nodded. "In that case, he can start living with me from now on." He said grinning and got up quickly. Usopp stared at him with strange expression and after few minutes of his daze, followed the teens down to the kitchen.

* * *

About 2 hours later the three teens were walking down the street, as some sun shone weakly through the gray clouds. Luffy's mom called him few minutes before that, saying that she wants to see him in her house not less than in 30 minutes. No arguing with mom, Luffy said and started to get up from the couch, when Zoro stopped him and said that he will walk him there, so Usopp had to go, too. His house was in the same direction, anyway. They were now half way there, while Luffy talked the whole time with Zoro smirking at him and Usopp just nodding from time to time. When they finally got to Luffy's house, Usopp and Zoro were about to leave, when the door slammed open and a beautiful woman walked quickly out, ignoring the other two teens and walking directly to Luffy. Usopp stood there, startled at the suddenness of this and Zoro waited patiently to see what will happen next. The woman's face was flushed and she seemed excited.

"He's here!" She said, her voice full of excitement and Luffy stared at her blankly. "He's back!" she started again and this time Luffy's expression changed into one of total happiness. His smile was bigger than ever, if that was even possible.

"Really, mom? Are you serious?" He shouted out and the woman nodded excitedly. Zoro stared at them with a half smile. They looked so alike, they even acted in a similar way. He wondered who they were talking about, when Luffy turned his head towards him and jumped on him, hugging him. Zoro blinked, disoriented.

"Zoro! He's here! Come with me!" Luffy said, finally letting go of him and grabbing his hand instead, dragging him into the house. Usopp stood there, not really knowing what to do, but the woman turned her attention to him, calmer now.

"Are you a friend of my son?" She asked and Usopp nodded slowly. She smiled reassuringly and invited him inside.


	9. Chapter 8

__Short chapter was short but wait...! Here's another one.

I had to do this but... I regret nothing :D

* * *

_Chapter Eight_

Zoro looked around the house mildly, as he was still dragged by Luffy to god knows where. It looked like he was running around the house from one room to the other. He probably didn't know where that mysterious person would be. Finally they stopped in the kitchen and Zoro looked around, but there was no one there. He looked at Luffy and sighed. The boy just stopped to get some food. Typical of him. He was about to say something, when he was interrupted by footsteps and he turned around to see a red haired man walking into the kitchen with a grin on his face.

"Hey, Luffy." He said lightly and the boy spun around from the fridge with a piece of sausage in his hand. When he saw the man he smiled happily, throwing the food inside the fridge again, before that of course taking a huge bite, for which he will be scolded by his mother when she finds out he didn't use the knife again.

"Shanks!" He screamed out and run up to the man, who smiled at him and took the straw hat off his head to ruffle his black hair.

"Still walking around with that hat, even in the winter?" The man named Shanks asked, laughing lightly and Luffy pouted.

"Of course! It's from you after all!" He said defensively. "You should be happy." And muttered out, sticking his tongue out at the man. Zoro stood beside them quietly, not knowing if he should interrupt them, or not, when the man spoke again.

"And who's that?" He asked pointing at Zoro. "Your sexy ass boyfriend?" He teased and Luffy's face heated up immediately and Zoro choked on his own spit. The man started laughing, but stopped, when he got hit in the head with a spoon by a frustrated Luffy and Shanks rubbed at the pained place.

"Shanks! Don't go saying things like that to my poor son and his friends." Said the woman as she entered the room with a small smile on her face, looking at Luffy's face. Shanks just laughed, still rubbing his head. "And you, Luffy. Stop throwing things at Shanks."

"But he started it!" Luffy whined, still blushing, not even glancing at Zoro to see his reaction. He was probably mad, anyway. The woman giggled, covering her mouth with her small hand and looking past Luffy. Not standing it anymore, he turned his head slowly and cautiously to look at Zoro; he was standing in the same spot, examining their old kettle, like it was some rare sculpture, or something. Luffy even noticed a slight blush on the older teen's face, but he probably just imagined things. Zoro cleared his throat, looking back at everyone.

"I'm Zoro. And I'm his drummer." He muttered out, pointing at Luffy, who grinned, happy that Zoro wasn't mad at him for Shank's stupid comment.

"Drummer?" The red haired man asked with excitement. "So you're finally getting that band of yours together, eh?" He added with a smile, looking at Luffy, who grinned at him.

"Yup! I met him first! But I also have a guitarist, her name is Nami!" He said proudly.

'Great. Because you know that if you still didn't find anyone, I would have kicked your ass?" Shanks said, throwing the hat back at the teen, who smiled so happily that it was contagious. Usopp stared at the scene in front of him from his spot by the door, still not noticed by the red haired man. He considered just backing off and getting out of there, but in the same time the man turned around, probably to say something to Luffy's mother and noticed him.

"Another one? I don't think that's Nami." He said, pointing at Usopp and looking back at Luffy, who laughed at the man.

"This is Usopp. He's a great bassist, but he just doesn't want to join my band!" Luffy whined, sulking a little bit, and Shanks raised his eyebrows, looking back at the nervous teen.

"I see." He said, looking at the long nosed teen with a serious expression and Usopp glanced at the nearest exit nervously. What if he was crazy like that orange haired girl? Or even worse? He wondered, panicked, but then the man shrugged and turned his attention towards the woman. "Do we have anything to drink?" He asked with a grin and the woman sighed, shaking her head in disapproval, but walking towards the fridge to snatch some beer and gave it to the man. They walked towards the living room and sat at any available seat. Usopp cautiously sitting as far from the red haired man as possible.

"Right." Shanks started, looking at Zoro. "I have not introduced myself yet. I'm Shanks and I'm just a family friend." He said, grinning and took a sip from his can. Zoro nodded at him and almost fell off the couch, as Luffy crawled over him, staring at the man.

"Just a friend?" He screamed out and Zoro had to hold onto his shirt, so he wouldn't fall over. "Tell them how awesome you are!" He said childishly and Shanks laughed at that, shaking his head.

"There's no need for any of that." He said, still laughing and looked at Zoro, which was quiet a hard task, as he was hidden behind Luffy, who was sprawled on his lap. "Don't listen to that little kid, he's a bit not right in the head, I assure you, if you haven't noticed that yourself." He said and Zoro grinned at him, holding back a laugh. Luffy pouted.

"If you're not telling them, then I will. Shanks is the best! It's all thanks to him that I wanted to form my own band! He just never gave up and I won't either!" He stated seriously and leaned back from Zoro's lap and onto his previous seat. Usopp snapped his head up, his eyes wide with disbelief as realisation hit him hard.

"W-wait, are you that guy from the band 'Red haired Devil?'" He stuttered out and the man looked up at him with a raised brow.

"Yea, so what?" He asked and Usopp stared at him longer than he intended, but finally shook his head and looked away.

"Nothing." He muttered out, a little bit stressed.

"I knew you were the best, Shanks!" Luffy screamed and everybody's attention was back to the hyper boy and Usopp let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Even Usopp knows about you!" He added happily. Zoro smiled at him and Shanks sighed.

"This kid is hopeless." He said and everyone laughed lightly and soon they were all talking casually between one another. Usopp stared intensely at Shanks, who was now talking to the happy woman. He glanced at Luffy who was looking at the man with admiration in his eyes and a happy smile on his face. Usopp sighed, thinking about something, that he knew would be impossible for him. But maybe he could just try? This kid was so determined to do what he was always talking about with such a intense certainty and enthusiasm. Maybe he could just try it once. For Luffy and for himself.

* * *

After about an hour, Shanks and Luffy's mom got up from the couch.

"Al right, kids, go to your room, adults have to talk now." Shanks said with a smirk and Luffy pouted at him.

"I'm not a kid!" He said, offended, but got up anyway. "Come on, we're going to my room." He looked at Zoro and Usopp , before leaving, the other teens getting up as well.

* * *

"Isn't he cool?" Luffy said excitedly, jumping on his bed happily. Zoro looked around, nodding.

"Yea, he's pretty cool." He muttered out, catching Luffy by the leg and pulling, which made the boy fall onto the bed from his standing position. He huffed and laid with his legs on Zoro's lap, glaring at the ceiling.

"Um, guys." The silence was cut off by Usopp, who sat at one corner of the bed, determination written all over his face. Luffy snapped his head to look at him curiously and Zoro nodded for him to continue. "I think… that I might…I'm saying that I just might! Well, join your band, if you still want me to." He said finally and Luffy sat up straight, grinning at him.

"Sure we want to! Cool! Thanks, Usopp!" He started babbling and Zoro smacked him lightly over the head.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked and Usopp just shrugged.

"Some things."

"Yay!" Luffy was bouncing on his bed again, and Usopp smiled at him.

"But I'm the one that should be thanking you." He said and Luffy looked at him, almost falling from the bed, but Zoro grabbed him by the wrist.

"But what for?" Luffy asked with an innocent stare, and Usopp shook his head.

"Never mind, never mind." He said and grinned. "So, who's ready to kick some asses?" He asked and Luffy smiled, fist pumping the air.

* * *

Nami stood in front of a small restaurant with her hands on her hips and a small smile on her face. She sighed one last time and walked inside. She was looking for a job for heavens know how long and finally she found one in the small restaurant as a waitress. That was fine with her, as long as she was getting some money. She made her way down to where she was told just few days ago and changed into the uniform that was given to her. She settled in fairly quickly and was serving one of the clients when suddenly she felt eyes on her back and she turned around, expecting some old and bald customer, staring at her hungrily, which of course had happened already in her first day, but was surprised to see a young blonde man with the fringe covering one of his eyes, dressed in a black suit standing by one of the tables. He stared at her with admiration and when he noticed she was looking at him, he smiled at her and she could almost see his eyes turn into hearts. She shook her head, sighing and finished placing the order and walked away.

* * *

It was time for her break and she was standing in the cold outside at the back of the restaurant. She sighed, staring at the sky, but her thoughts were interrupted, when the back door open and she looked to see who it was and saw the blonde guy from before with a cigarette in his mouth. He looked up with a bored expression, but seeing Nami it changed immediately and he walked up to her with a charming smile.

"Hello there, beautiful lady. I have not seen you here before, are you a new waitress?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Yes I am. And you are?" She asked casually, looking him up and down.

"I'm Sanji. I'm a cook here." He said smiling at her and she raised her eyebrow.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but I have to get back to work now." She said and made her way towards the door.

"Wait! What's your name, beautiful?" He asked and she turned her head with a flashing smile, which made Sanji sigh at her with admiration.

"I'm Nami." She replied and walked inside, getting back to her work.

* * *

She looked at the clock nervously and sighed defeated. Her shift was supposed to end in five minutes and she could go to Zoro's to meet with the others and practice, but new customers were flooding the place and the girl that was supposed to change her still wasn't here. She sighed annoyed, but then noticed this Sanji guy walking out of the kitchen area. She smiled evilly to herself and walked up to him with the cutest pout she could master.

"Sanji! The girl that is supposed to change me isn't here yet and I have to go now! Will you please serve some of the guests for me?" She said with a sad expression and Sanji nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Of course! Anything to help a lady! I'm on my way Nami-san, you can go now!" He said happily, fleeing towards the nearest table and Nami smiled to herself proudly.

* * *

Nami walked out of the restaurant and made her way towards the bus stop. She got inside, putting her earphones in and sitting comfortably in one of the available seats. She looked out the window thoughtfully and waited to get to her destination. When the bus stopped, she walked out quickly, going first to her house to snatch her guitar and then made her way to Zoro's. When she got inside and walked down into the basement, she was surprised to see the long nosed teen from before standing with the others with his bass guitar in hands. Luffy grinned at her, and she grinned back and Zoro just nodded his head at her. Usopp stared at her with fear in his eyes, still remembering how scary she was when he first met her.

"So you got that coward to join the band, after all?" She asked, smirking and Luffy nodded happily, explaining what had happen during her absence. She laughed at the story and soon they were back to practicing with a nervous Usopp trying his best to stop his legs from wobbling.


	10. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

Nami was back at her new job on the Sunday morning and now she was about to go back to her work after a short break, but was stopped by her phone buzzing in her pocket. She took it out quickly and answered the call.

"Nami where are you?" Luffy's happy voice exploded through the speakers.

"Uh, I'm at work, Luffy. If you don't have anything important to say, then I'll go, because-"

"Wait! You have a job?"

"Yes I do."

"What for?"

"What do people have jobs for, you dumbass?" She asked irritated.

"To earn money?"

"Duh! Now-"

"Where do you work?" Luffy was so excited, that he didn't even let Nami finish her sentence as he started to ask tons of questions. Nami replied to them all patiently, but after five minutes, she got too irritated and said that she's hanging up.

"We'll come to see you!" She heard just before she clicked the red button and had no time to say "please, don't". Sighing desperately she got back to her work, hoping that the others would stop Luffy from coming even near this place, as they were too lazy to do practically anything, but it seems that hopes are too little, as about an hour later over excited Luffy was in the restaurant together with bored Zoro and curious Usopp, and all hell broke free in less than few minutes.

* * *

"Nami!" Luffy run into the restaurant, ignoring everyone and everything and screaming at the top of his lungs. Zoro stared after him and winced, when the younger teen didn't notice that someone spilled some drink just a few seconds before and was now trying to stop Luffy from walking into it. Zoro knew what will happen next but it was even more tragic than he expected. As Luffy was running, he slipped and lost his balance sliding through the whole restaurant and finally stopping when he collided with the wine rack. Everybody looked in the direction of breaking glass and stared at Luffy, who was lying in a puddle surrounded by lots of broken glass. He blinked innocently, the liquid dropping from his black hair and down his face. Zoro groaned and Usopp stared with his mouth hanging open. Nami turned her head from the guest, who was also staring at Luffy, like everybody else. She knew this was a bad idea. Luffy was still laying in the same place when the owner of the restaurant made his appearance with Sanji at his feet. When Luffy noticed the huge man he got up quickly and was ready to run out the nearest door, but a firm hand caught him by his hoodie and he stumbled back. Turning his head around slowly, he saw the owner with not so nice expression on his face. Luffy tried to smile, but that didn't seem to help.

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" The man said and Luffy pointed at the door.

"Out." He said and the man glared at him. "It wasn't me?" He tried jus as a droplet run down his nose.

"No. You are coming with me." He barked and started to pull Luffy away from the door and the curious stares.

* * *

Nami stared after him with disbelief. Oh god, please don't talk to me, she thought. She didn't want to get in trouble because of that idiot. Luffy disappeared behind one of the doors and she sighed turning around to stare at the other two teenagers with a death glare. Zoro didn't flinch, but Usopp almost had a heart attack.

* * *

Luffy sat in a chair with the man glaring at him for about 5 minutes and it was starting to get creepy. He cleared his throat and the old man finally spoke.

"You will have to pay for this, boy." Luffy looked at him with wide eyes.

"But I don't have any money." He stated and the man glared even harder.

"Then you will have to work here."

"Seriously? But I-"

"There's no buts, boy. You will work here for a month."

"That long? But I… I have school and-"

"I don't care, you shouldn't have been stupid then. You're starting tomorrow." He growled and stood up, motioning for Luffy to follow him out with a depressed sigh. The boy came up to his friends and told them what he has to do now.

"It's your fault for being so hyper." Zoro groaned and smacked Luffy over the head, walking out of the restaurant with furrowed brows. Luffy followed him quickly.

"It is not my fault! It wasn't me that spilled that drink." He argued trying to catch up with Zoro, who was walking quickly towards his car.

"Yea, and it was the person that pushed you into that poodle." He growled getting inside and starting the car. Luffy got in quickly, almost in time as the older teen drove off with the door still open. Luffy yelped and closed them, glaring at Zoro.

"Alright! Fine! But why are you mad at me?"

"Because we need to practice." Zoro muttered out, focusing all of his attention on the road, not even glancing at Luffy who frowned and slumped in his seat.

"It's only a month." He tried, but Zoro ignored him. All of a sudden Luffy jumped in his seat and looked around. "Um, Zoro, where's Usopp?" He asked and this time the green haired teen looked at him for a split second and then sighed.

"Uh, he can walk." He finally replied and Luffy nodded slowly. "Wanna hang out at mine today?" He asked, not looking at the other teen, as if embarrassed. Luffy cocked his head to the side staring at him for a moment and his face brightened.

"Yea!" He said cheerfully, smiling and Zoro had to smile back. They drove to Zoro's house, getting inside, but Zoro stopped in the hallway when he noticed 2 pair of shoes. He sighed and Luffy looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head, grabbing Luffy's hand and trying to walk to the basement as quietly as possible. But of course he didn't have that much luck, as his mother walked out of the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed him and Luffy. Zoro glared at her, but she was staring at his hand and he remembered that he was still holding the other's hand. He let go quickly and looked at Luffy, who was grinning like he always does at the woman. She snapped out of her daze and looked at Zoro's face.

"Zoro, who's that? I didn't know you had any friends beside that Sam guy and anyway I told you I don't like him, you shouldn't be hanging around-"

"Mom." Zoro snapped and the woman closed her mouth. "When did you get back?" He asked with a sigh and his mother looked at him sharply.

"Aren't you happy that me and your father are finally back?" She asked, somehow offended and irritated and Zoro wanted to tell her that, hell no, he wasn't happy to see them even a little bit, but instead he shook his head.

"I am. You just shocked me. I have to go now." He said quickly and was about to move, but his mother stopped him with her irritated voice.

"I asked you who that boy was." She said, staring at Luffy and Zoro turned to look at her for a second.

"A friend." He growled and grabbed Luffy's hand again, dragging him away. Luffy yelped and looked behind him at the woman standing stiffly by the door. When they got down and Zoro plopped himself on the old couch angrily, Luffy looked at him confused.

"What was that?" He asked, but Zoro just shook his head, so he didn't say anything else about the strange encounter with the woman. There was a tense silence and Luffy looked around nervously, but sighed relieved when his eyes fell on the drum set in the corner. "Play me something." He said, looking back at Zoro, who raised his brow at him.

"Nope." He said smugly and Luffy glared at him. "Only if you sing something." He said with a grin and Luffy sighed and nodded.

"Yea, fine." He muttered out and sat heavily next to the other teen.

* * *

The next day they were back in school and Luffy was already sleeping in the first class with his head on the table, snoring loudly. Some people turned their heads to look at him and Coby smacked him with his pen, irritated. Luffy snapped his head and looked confused for a moment before he noticed his friend and where he was. Sighing he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"What were you doing last night?" Coby asked curiously and Luffy groaned something in response.

"I was at Zoro's" He muttered out finally and Coby raised his brows at him. "What?"

"Nothing. Just wondering what were you doing that you are half dead now." He mused and Luffy stared at him for a moment with a blank expression but soon a blush started to creep onto his face and he puffed, irritated.

"This isn't funny. We were talking." He muttered out, looking away.

"Right."

"Shut it. But anyway, you won't believe what happened!" He shouted and the teacher looked at him dangerously so he apologized and whispered in irritation what had happened to him in the restaurant. Coby sighed when his friend finished the story.

"You always do something stupid." He muttered out, but Luffy only shrugged.

"Can't do anything about it now." He replied. "I have to go there today straight after school." He whined and smacked his head on the table, ready to go back to sleeping. History was so boring anyway, he thought.

* * *

Luffy got out of Zoro's car reluctantly. The older teen offered him a lift to the restaurant and Luffy agreed immediately, because he didn't have to use the bus and happy to spend some more time with the green haired teen. He walked into the restaurant and soon after Nami appeared glaring at him, but he ignored it and grinned at her waving his hands franticly. She sighed and smiled at him for a second. You couldn't not smile when the teen was so happy. She got to her work immediately and Luffy just stood there awkwardly not really knowing what to do until a blonde guy in a suit came up to him and motioned for him to follow. Luffy walked after him into the kitchen and looked around.

"Right." The blonde guy said and Luffy looked at him with a huge smile. "That old geezer told me about you. So all you have to do is clean the dishes and shit like that. Get going." He finished, waving Luffy off and the boy nodded slowly walking to the sink. He already knew this is going to be really boring. Just when he picked up the first dirty plate a loud music started to play behind him and he jumped in his place, startled, almost throwing the plate in the air. He whipped around and stared at the blonde guy with eyes wide open. He grinned and was about to say something when a harsh voice interrupted him.

"For Christ's sake, turn that screaming down you little idiot, you will scare the guest away!" This time Luffy dropped the plate and stared at a huge man that didn't even look like a cook. Then he looked at the blonde guy, who was grinning.

"Shut up, it never bothered them before so it won't now." He said smugly, getting back to his cooking. The other man grumbled something under his breath, but said nothing else. Luffy giggled and took another plate. He stared absently at the wall in front of him and started to sing quietly but getting louder and louder so he was almost screaming now. He was snapped out of his daze, when he heard someone screaming with him and he looked behind him to see the blonde guy throwing his head back and forth and screaming to SOAD's song B.Y.O.B. He looked at Luffy and the teen grinned, singing the other parts. The blonde guy started to pretend he was playing the guitar, the food he was cooking forgotten beside him. Suddenly the door opened, slamming into the wall and the owner stood there, not really happy. Luffy dropped yet another plate at the sudden sound. The man glared at him and he just smiled sheepishly. Soon the boy sighed as the owner looked away, scanning the kitchen and his eyes landed on the blonde guy. He got to him and kicked him rather hard, which made the other grumble, massaging his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop playing this shit and get to work, you idiot?" He snarled at the other dangerously but the guy only grinned at him. Luffy cocked his head to the side, staring at them.

"Yea, whatever, you old geezer." He said with a bored expression and waved the man off, going back to the abandoned cooking.

"Get out of here already and go play in some shitty band like you wished so much." The man snarled at him before walking out of the kitchen. Luffy blinked at hearing this.

"You play something?" He asked immediately and the blonde guy looked at him suspiciously.

"So what if I do?"

"What do you play?"

"Guitar."

"Do you want to join my band?" Luffy blurted out and the guy looked at him strangely.

"No, thanks." Luffy sighed and turned around to the sink again just to be stopped by some guy.

"No more of that. You will brake all of our dishes." He said with irritation and pointed for Luffy to do something else. He walked past Sanji but then turned around and stared at him for some time.

"I'm Luffy." He said finally and grinned when the blonde looked at him.

"Sanji." He replied and got back to his work, sighing.

* * *

It was finally break and Luffy sighed contently as he sat outside at the back of the restaurant with his legs crossed and staring at the sky. He turned his head when he heard the door open and Sanji walked out already with a cig dangling from his mouth. He noticed Luffy and stared at him for a moment then looked away.

"That old man said you wanted to join a band, so why not mine?" Luffy asked casually and Sanji glared at him.

"I changed my mind." He spat out and Luffy looked at him with interest shining in his dark eyes.

"You know, we're gonna be famous." Luffy said seriously and the other looked at him for a second.

"And you think you're gonna play in the biggest festivals, right?" He asked sarcastically, but something in his eyes changed, Luffy noted to himself.

"Yup." He replied lightly, still staring. Sanji sighed and plopped himself down next to the boy and the conversation started.

* * *

From a window just above the two the owner of the restaurant stared absently down with hard expression on his face. He sighed. He knew that this was the kid's dream, since the day he met him. He was once in a band himself, but some circumstances just made him quit and he opened a restaurant in this small town instead. Once, he was walking down the street in the less than popular part of the town and noticed something in the corner of one of the dark alleys. He squinted his eyes and saw that it was a boy, shaking with cold and holding his deathly skinny arms around himself, trying to warm himself up a bit. Not really knowing why, he got to the kid and asked him what he was doing there. The boy looked at him suspiciously with tired eyes for a second, but then started to explain in a shaky voice. From that time on the kid lived with him in his small house just above the restaurant. The man wasn't stupid and he knew that the irritating kid doesn't want to leave, because he thinks he have to somehow pay for saving his life and it made the man angry. He didn't get rid of the kid, didn't give him away to anyone else, because small as he was, young and stupid, he had that dream and the man told him that he should fight for it. But as Sanji got older, he got even more stupid in the man's opinion as he decided to stay in the small restaurant; the fact that he was so stubborn didn't help, nothing seemed to help, the yelling, telling him how bad of a cook he was, telling him to get out. Nothing worked and the man started to get tired of this, because he knew that the kid wanted this and still wants the most in the world, as he sat there with that black haired boy arguing about bands with a glint in his eyes. Maybe this time it's gonna be different, the man thought and walked away from the window.


	11. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten_

Next day after school Luffy was ridding in Zoro's car again towards the restaurant and telling him everything about the previous day.

"You saying he can play, but he doesn't want to join?" Zoro asked when Luffy stopped, glaring at the glass so hard that Luffy thought he might burn a hole in it if he didn't stop. He nodded and Zoro groaned. "Why do always have to find someone that doesn't want to join your band? Can't you just find someone that would be willing from the start?" He muttered out, massaging his temple with one hand, the other holding the wheel firmly. Luffy sighed but then grinned.

"Yea, but all of you said yes in the end." He stated happily and Zoro rolled his eyes just as he stopped the car in front of the restaurant. Luffy jumped out and headed inside. He walked into the kitchen casually and did, or rather tried to do everything that was asked of him, but failed miserably, irritating almost all of the cooks, beside Sanji, who snickered whenever the other did something wrong. Break rolled around fairly quickly and Luffy found himself outside with the blonde again.

"Seriously, why don't you want to join my band?" Luffy asked out of blue, receiving a glare in response.

"Because I have to stay here." He growled at the younger teen, who was opening his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"No, you don't have to stay here, you little idiot. It would actually be better if you got out of here." They both turned their heads quickly around to see the owner standing by the door with an angry expression on his face. Then again, when wasn't it angry, Sanji thought, staring at the man.

"Shut up, old geezer." He muttered out and received a kick in the head. The man glared at him and walked back inside. Luffy turned around to the blonde, but was interrupted again.

"Luffy, stop tormenting other people about the band thing already." Nami said as she walked up to the two. Sanji's eyes immediately shone brighter.

"Nami-san! You know him?" He asked suspiciously, glaring at Luffy who was standing beside him with a blank expression.

"Yup. I'm a guitarist in his band." Nami stated with a smirk and Sanji's jaw dropped, almost hitting the ground.

"You play guitar? You are so perfect, Nami-swan!" Sanji shouted, almost melting like a chocolate left in the sun. Luffy still stared at him blankly.

"So you want to join our band now?" He asked finally and Sanji looked at him for a second, but quickly averting his eyes back to Nami.

"This is really tempting, but I cannot do that." He said sadly.

"But the old man said that you can." Luffy replied, looking at the other with innocent eyes.

"The old geezer doesn't know what he's talking about." Sanji snapped, getting up and heading towards the door. Soon Nami was the only one standing beside Luffy in the cold air. The girl sighed and smiled at Luffy reassuringly before going inside herself.

* * *

The bell rang loudly, bouncing off the old school walls and Luffy snapped his head up to look around, confusion written all over his face. He was not used to working and all that, so he was really tired now, as school was already tiring for him, now he also had to work his ass off to pay off for the damage in the restaurant. He groaned getting up and Coby looked at him worriedly.

"Are you going there today, too?" He asked and Luffy nodded sleepily, yawing.

"Yea, everyday for the whole month." He replied. "Thank you lord for the life saving lunch hour." Luffy muttered out, walking towards the school's cafeteria to meet with the others. He finally spotted them by one of the tables and walked up to them sitting heavily beside Zoro and resting his head on the older teen's shoulder, who glared at him, but didn't push him off. Luffy sighed contently at the nice feeling. Nami muffled her laugh as she poked Usopp in the ribs, pointing to the two teens. He looked at them with raised eyebrows and grinned back at the girl.

"So Luffy, is Zoro's shoulder as comfy as your pillow?" Nami asked when she saw the younger teen almost drifting off to sleep and Zoro glared and her. Luffy muttered something inaudible, scooting closer to the green haired teen.

"Mm. So much better than that." He muttered out sleepily and Nami grinned. When she saw the faint blush on Zoro's cheeks she laughed loudly, together with Usopp.

"Shut the hell up." Zoro hissed through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at the two, which made Usopp stop with a caught, but it didn't seem to bother Nami as she still laughed.

"Zoro, why is it so loud." Luffy asked and Zoro looked down at him. He had his eyes closed, snuggling to the other's chest now. Zoro noticed that the boy was already unconscious and talking in his sleep. The fact that he said Zoro's name made the other even more uncomfortable and he blushed harder, but he didn't make any attempts at waking and shoving the boy away from himself as he snuggled into his chest comfortably with a dreamy smile. Zoro had to admit that it felt nice to have the other so close to himself. He groaned at the thought and looked away quickly.

* * *

This time Luffy was determined to make Sanji join his band and he thought of a way for the whole day of washing the dishes and cleaning the floors and the cupboards. Now he was standing with Nami in the same place as the other day as the break went on. He looked thoughtful for once and Nami just had to ask him about it.

"What are you thinking so intensely about, Luffy?" He snapped his head to give her a curious stare.

"I wonder," He started somehow shyly and Nami considered the option of the boy being ill or something. "why is Sanji looking at you in that strange way, like, always?" He finally finished and Nami's eyes widen a little bit, then she snickered at the innocence of this boy.

"Well, I think that he likes me."

"But I like you, too and I don't do that." He said confused and Nami laughed lightly.

"I meant that he likes me in _that _way. You know, like, fancy me." She said amused as the boy's face heated up immediately.

"Uh, okay, never mind." He said quickly and looked away, thoughts flooding his mind. He noticed that Zoro was also staring at him almost all of the time, but he just shook his head quickly, to force the thoughts away. There was no way of Zoro actually liking Luffy, he was straight., Luffy thought desperately. He was sure that the green haired teen was straight. The fact that Luffy might like him that way, didn't immediately make the other like him back. It was impossible and Luffy knew it well enough to stop the stupid thoughts flooding his mind without his agreement. He sighed, forced a smile and looked at Nami, who was staring at him strangely.

"Luffy are you feeling okay?" She asked with a worried expression and Luffy just nodded.

* * *

Luffy walked out of the kitchen, ready to go home, but because of the thoughts that still didn't want to leave his head alone, he walked in totally opposite direction than the exit of the restaurant. He was snapped back to reality when he heard a faint sound of guitar and he followed it without second thought. He walked up the stair quickly, concentrating to find the source of the sound. Finally he stopped by one of the doors where the sound was much louder and Luffy knew it was coming from that room. He stood in front of the door listening, forgetting where he was, when something hard slammed into his shoulder and he whirled around to see the owner standing in front of him with his big hand on Luffy's arm. Luffy grinned at him sheepishly, but the man didn't seem angry for once, at least not as much as he always was; this time Luffy noticed something different in his eyes and he furrowed his brows, trying to think. He was about to apologize for coming up here when the man spoke in a quiet voice.

"He's really good, isn't he?" He asked with a distant expression and Luffy nodded. "Get him out of here. I don't now how, but just take him away." The man said with a serious expression on his face.

* * *

Just as Sanji stopped playing his guitar, he heard muffled sounds of someone talking behind his door. He got up quietly and walked up to the door, pushing his head on the old wood and squinting hard to hear. He frowned when he heard the owner talk to someone with sorrowful tone in his voice.

"Get him out of here. I don't know how, but just take him away." Sanji curled his hands into fists angrily, but loosened up at the next words he overheard. "He's a good kid. Probably a bit too good. That's why I'm asking you to do it. For him. I know how much he dreamed about this and that was what held me close to him. But he is just too stubborn and can't get it through his thick skull that I didn't save him to keep him in here for the rest of his life, but to give him the chance of accomplishing what he dreamed of in the first place. And I will let you skip the rest of the month if you succeed." The man said tiredly and Sanji stood on the other side of the door with disbelief crossing his features. He sighed heavily and walked slowly back to his guitar, taking it in his hands and staring at it intensely, just as the door opened and Luffy walked inside. Sanji noticed that this time the boy wasn't smiling happily like he always did and his ridiculous hat was down covering his eyes with its shadow. He was about to say something, Sanji knew he was and so he beat him up to it, making the boy's head snap up to revel the shock in his big, dark eyes.

"I will join your band." He said quietly and slowly and there was a silence for some time before Luffy started to bounce in place so happily and lightly that it was almost impossible to believe that just few seconds before the air was thick and heavy. Now it seemed to brighten, Luffy's happy smile making all the rainy and heavy clouds go away, like it was the warm sun shinning through them. It made Sanji grin at the boy.

* * *

It was past midnight already when the doorbell rang in the small house. Zoro groaned sleepily, but got up anyway, because he knew that his lazy parents won't bother with checking who it was. If it wasn't anything really important, like, your house is on fire, or something like that, Zoro thought that he will kill anyone who bothered to wake him up. He opened the door forcefully and was about to snap at anyone that was outside, when he noticed the familiar straw hat and his expression softened, showing some worry through his always cold eyes.

"Luffy, what happened?" He asked quietly and Luffy looked up at him with a huge smile on his face.

"He agreed to be in our band! And I don't have to work there anymore!" Luffy said excitedly and Zoro frowned at him, but then understood who the other was talking about and he shook his head hopelessly.

"Couldn't you wait till tomorrow to tell me that? Or text me, or something." He muttered out with a hint of irritation in his voice, but he still smiled at the pout on the other's face.

"I wanted to tell you as quick as possible. And I wanted to see you, anyway." Luffy said sp quietly that Zoro almost didn't hear him, looking away and Zoro snorted.

"Missing me so much already?" He asked, grinning.

"No!" Luffy protested before the older even finished the sentence. "Don't be stupid, why would anyone miss you?" He said as he regained his composure and grinned lightly at Zoro.

"Then go home already." Zoro responded, cocking his brows and Luffy huffed at him.

"You ain't getting rid of me that easily." Luffy sang, brushing past Zoro and directing his footsteps towards the living room. Zoro gritted his teeth and caught the teen by his hood, giving him a rather harsh tug. Luffy stumbled back with a yelp, but quickly found his balance again, turning around and glaring at his friend.

"I'm staying." He said, or rather stated with a grin and Zoro just sighed; why can't he say no to this kid?

"Yea, fine, alright." He growled out, rolling his eyes and Luffy grinned even more. "But you can't sleep on the couch this time, my parents won't be too happy about that." He said and Luffy looked at him strangely.

"Then where am I suppose to sleep?" He finally asked, not mentioning anything about Zoro's relations with his parents. He blinked, when he saw something new in the other's eyes, but couldn't place what it was as it disappeared as quickly as it appeared; Luffy even thought it might be just the light from outside.

"With me." He then said and Luffy choked on his own spit, making the other grin. "Problem?" He asked smugly and Luffy stared at him. Oh, no, he will not back off now, he thought when he heard the mocking tone in the other's voice.

"Non at all." He said and smiled one of his biggest smiles ever. Challenge accepted, he mused and Zoro grinned, motioning for him to follow the older teen up the stairs and to his room as quietly as possible. Zoro closed the door behind him and looked at Luffy who was standing by the bed with a grin, but he still saw how awkward he felt.

"Are you gonna get in, or just stand there the whole night?" Zoro asked, cocking his brow at the younger teen, who huffed loudly. Soon he was taking off his hoodie and jeans, staying in his underwear and a plain t-shirt; he quickly got under the covers and Zoro followed seconds after. When Luffy felt the warmth radiating from the other's body he shivered involuntarily and scooted as far away as it was possible on the small bed, almost squishing himself on the wall. He didn't trust himself to be closer; shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to even his breathing out and fall asleep as quickly as he could.

* * *

Zoro laid comfortably in the bed with his hands behind his head as he listened to the other's nervous breathing. He wanted to laugh, but he forced himself not to; sighting he turned onto his side, staring at Luffy's back. All of a sudden he just wanted to grab the boy by the waist and pull him so close to himself, that he would feel his heart beating against his body and his hot breath on his skin. When he realised what he was thinking, he slapped himself on the forehead, turning around hurriedly with his back to the younger teen. He shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head furiously. he was not gay, he repeated in his head over and over again, until he fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

The next day he woke up to a loud gasp and he opened his eyes slowly. Somehow, today his bed felt so much more comfortable that any other day and he was reluctant to end this nice feeling. But when he realised that the warmth coming from nowhere, was in fact coming from Luffy, who was still sleeping in his arms peacefully with his head on Zoro's chest and his mouth slightly open, his eyes widened. He stared at the sight for a few long seconds, forgetting everything else, when he heard someone clear their throat and his head snapped up to look at his father, who now stood behind his wife. Panic rose in his gut and he moved away from the boy, almost falling off the bed and looking at his father's serious face. Luffy just turned around hugging the pillow instead and murmuring some inaudible words, still in deep sleep.

"What was that suppose to mean, son?" His father snarled at him and Zoro looked away. "I asked you a question!" He roared and the teen winced. "Who is this little piece of shit?" He asked with a disgusted face and something in Zoro snapped.


	12. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven_

"Say that about him one more time and you will regret it." He growled and his father looked at him with shock evident on his face. "Why do you care all of a sudden? You always come to me when I do something wrong, don't you?" He snapped, getting off the bed angrily.

* * *

Luffy mumbled something and his eyes opened slowly as he heard a familiar voice, but laced with so much hate that he shuddered involuntarily. He sat up slowly to see Zoro standing by the bed and a man hovering over him dangerously.

"Don't you dare talking to me that way." The man said, gritting his teeth.

"Fuck you." Zoro replied with so much venom in his voice that Luffy's eye widened in disbelief and shock, but it didn't last long as anger flared through him instead when the man punched Zoro in the face.

"What do you think you're doing?" He screamed out and the man glared at him just now noticing that he was awake.

"Don't get involved in this, Luffy." Zoro warned him and Luffy glued his big eyes on the green haired teen, staring as the blood made its way down his chin. Luffy gripped the covers tightly, already hating the man that hit his friend. He got up and started to walk towards him with anger flowing through his veins, making his head throb with a dull headache, but he was stopped by Zoro who gripped his wrist tightly, pulling him towards himself.

"This is not what you think it is." He growled at the man, trying to calm himself down. His father stared at him for some time and it seemed that the anger started to leave him slowly. But then he noticed the bracelet on Luffy's wrist, the one that Zoro was still gripping so tightly that it started to feel numb. Zoro followed his stare and then looked at the man again with a smirk on his face.

"Problem, father?" He asked and the man's eyes narrowed dangerously but you could see the disgust in them, too.

"Get out of my house." He growled directing his hateful stare towards Luffy, who flinched at the intensity of it. He looked at Zoro who grimaced and this time Luffy stared back at the man and then suddenly smiled that famous smile, which made the man disoriented.

"Don't get so worked up, sir." He said lightly, but something stung at his chest painfully as he said the next words. "Your son is straight, you don't gave to worry, I'm just a little fag that runs around him the whole time. But we're just friends, so you don't have to worry that I will turn your son into a faggot." He said in icy cold voice, before pulling his pants on, grabbing his hoodie and walking out of the room quickly, past the stunned man.

"Luffy." He heard Zoro gasp in disbelief, but he didn't stop as he walked out of the house and made his way towards his own home. He felt tears stung at his eyes at the reality of his words and he sucked in a sharp breath, rubbing at his eyes angrily.

* * *

Zoro stood in the same place by his bed with eyes wide open, still staring at the door where Luffy disappeared just few minutes ago. It was silent the whole time, making him cringe and he finally looked at his father.

"I hope you're happy now." He snapped at the man before he brushed past him and walked towards the front door of the house, slamming them shut forcefully. He got into his car, starting it and driving as far away from that place as he could. He always hated it there. He stared at the road in front of him, holding the wheel so hard that his knuckles had turned white. He didn't care where he was going as he thought about Luffy's words. He didn't know why, but they had hurt him. Not only because the younger teen used the offensive word himself, but more when he said that they were just friends and nothing else. Part of him wanted to scream as his gut twisted in uneasiness and the other part felt relieved; he was not gay and he was not supposed to be thinking that way about a guy. He realised that he had school in less than an hour, but he shrugged it off. He can skip for once. He wasn't in the mood to deal with all of those annoying people and most of all, he didn't want to see Luffy just yet.

* * *

Luffy looked at the watch on his wrist and grimaced. He had no time to go home now, so he just made his way towards the school trying to calm himself down and made his face look somehow presentable. When he got there he noticed Anastasia standing by her locker with one of her friends. He walked up to her, took a long breath and smiled.

"Hey, An." He said cheerfully and she turned her head to look at him, but frowned.

"Are you ok, Luffy?"

"Yea, fine." He said and averted his big eyes from her. She sighed and just nodded.

"Where's Zoro?" She asked, looking around and Luffy shrugged.

"Dunno. Listen, I have to go now." He said and walked away hurriedly. She stared after him with a worried expression. He was never acting like that.

* * *

The day went on slower than usual and Luffy noticed that Zoro wasn't in today when he walked up to their usual table. Everybody looked up at him and he smiled as lightly as he could.

"Hey Luffy, what's up?" Usopp asked when the boy sat heavily next to him.

"Nothing." He started, staring absently at the food on the table. Everyone frowned, shocked that he didn't go to the cafeteria straight away to snatch all of the food.

"Luffy it's you we're talking about, something must have happened, it always does." Nami said, trying to lighten the mood and Luffy looked at her gratefully. He sighed, trying to stop his thoughts from going in the wrong directions.

"Yea, you're right." He said finally, more cheerfully. "Sanji agreed to join our band!" This time he was smiling again, and it wasn't that fake smile anymore, even if it was smaller that usual. Nami breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"That idiot? He's so annoying, obsessing over me all of the time." She muttered out and Luffy laughed quietly. Everybody seemed to calm down and join in the conversations.

* * *

A week have passed and Zoro still was avoiding his over excited friend; now Luffy thought that he might be mad at him, or even hate him because of what happened with his parents. He wasn't sad anymore, at least not because of the reason he was in the first place, but this time he felt uneasy at the prospect of Zoro hating him. True, it wouldn't be possible that the older teen liked him that way, but at least he was his friend. And now he was avoiding him like fire. He walked down the empty hall. The classes had already finished and everyone run out like it was the last day of their life.

"Luffy." He heard his name and jumped looking around. Nami was standing by the door with her hands crossed and looking at him like a worried mother would look at her only child. "I know something's up. And I know it has to do with Zoro. You two haven't talk for a whole week." She said and Luffy flinched looking away. She sighed and walked up to him placing her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, you can tell me, you know." She muttered out and he looked at her eyes full of worry. He tried to smile but failed miserably.

"Yea, something happened and now he hates me." He muttered out and Nami furrowed her brows at his words.

"He would never hate you."

"Well, apparently he does as he's avoiding me like I'm some kind of a plague." He said bitterly and walked past her hurriedly. She stood there with a frown for some time, not really knowing what to do and finally made her way to her house, sighing.

* * *

She was about to walk into her house, but shook her head forcefully and glanced at the building next to her. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, waiting. After some time a man opened the door looking at her questioningly.

"Hello, I'm Zoro's friend. Uh, is he home?" She asked uneasily as the man stared at her with cold eyes. Suddenly his features brightened and he nodded, letting her inside.

"You are his friend? What's your name? Are you dating him?" He asked and she looked at him strangely.

"I'm Nami. And we're just friends, sir." She said, looking away. This guy was unnerving.

"Oh, ok. Well then, go upstairs, he's in his room." He muttered out and disappeared behind one of the doors. Nami stared after him for some time, then shook her head and made her way to Zoro's room. She knocked and received an annoyed grunt in response. Deciding it was something like 'come in' in Zoro's language she opened the door and stepped inside to see him laying on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling so hard that he almost burned a hole through it. She cleared her throat and he glared at her.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped and she grimaced but walked further inside putting her hands on her hips and glaring right back at the teen.

"I don't care what you have done to Luffy, but stop avoiding him." She said sharply and Zoro moved on the bed uncomfortable at the mention of the other's name and sat up staring at her.

"I haven't done anything to him." He growled and she snarled in response.

"Yea, right, then why aren't you talking to him?" She asked amusingly and Zoro shrugged nonchalantly.

"None of your business."

"It is my business when I see my friend upset!" She snapped and Zoro looked at her with wide eyes. "He's your friend, too! I don't care what you did, just forget it and start talking to him again! You have no idea how sad he is. It's strange for him and we miss his smile and carefree attitude." She said, dropping her voice to almost a whisper and Zoro looked at her uneasily. Then he got up from his bed and brushed past the girl without a word. She stared as he left the room hurriedly. Blinking, she run after him, thinking that now he's ignoring her, too. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked in a raised voice, making Zoro's parents walk into the hall to find out what was happening. Zoro stopped by the door and looked at her for a split second.

"You're right." He said. "I was stupid." Averting his eyes from her confused expression he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the house.

"Uh." Nami looked to the side where a woman was standing, looking at her. The girl shook her head, sighing, but with a small smile on her face.

"It was nothing, don't worry. I will have to go now. Goodbye." She said and walked out and to her own house.

* * *

Luffy was in his bed with the music on so loud that his mom was starting to get irritated. Probably the whole street could hear it, she thought and made her way towards his room with the intentions of turning it down, when the doorbell rang. She sighed, curious as to who it may be and opened the door with a smile. She recognised the green haired boy as Luffy's friend and her smile widened.

"Oh, hello Zoro, I'm happy you visited us." She said cheerfully and Zoro tried to smile at her, which wasn't all that hard as her smile was so much similar to Luffy's. "Come in, Luffy's in his room." She waved her hands for him to get inside and he nodded slowly, thanked her and walked to Luffy's room. He sighed before opening the door and when he did, he walked inside spotting his friend on the bed with eyes closed and singing quietly to himself. Zoro smiled involuntarily and made his way to the bed. The younger teen still hasn't noticed him, but when his bed caved in from Zoro's weight he snapped his eyes open, alarmed and stared at his friend with mouth slightly open.

"Don't be so surprised." Zoro said and Luffy closed his mouth clearing his throat.

"What are you doing here?" He asked before looking away. Zoro sighed tiredly.

"I wanted to apologize." He replied and Luffy stared at him in disbelief.

"You? But why, I mean, I should be the one apologizing." Luffy stared to babble and Zoro groaned.

"Shut up, Luffy. Just…never mind, can we just go back to being as we were before?" He asked in annoyance and Luffy stared at him blankly.

* * *

Was he really saying that they can be friends again? Luffy couldn't believe his words and just stared at Zoro, who was looking everywhere but at him. He blinked and a small smile crept its way onto his face. So he didn't hate him after all. They can be friends again. Now Luffy was grinning fully, like he did so many times before and Zoro looked at him with a serious expression for a second but then smirked and Luffy was so happy that he started to bounce on his bed.

"Stop doing that, or you're gonna split your head open one day." Zoro groaned, but Luffy just stuck his tongue out at him. He yelped when something caught him by the wrist and he stumbled forward, falling on Zoro. He giggled and pushed himself up resting his hands on the other's chest. Zoro smirked and grabbed him by the waist, flipping him onto the bed and hovering over him. Luffy started at him suspiciously and then started laughing uncontrollably when the older teen tickled him on the ribs.

"Stop! Zoro, stop, I can't breath." He squeaked out, breathing hard, kicking his legs in the air and bumping his fist in the other's chest.

"Oh, Zoro don't kill my son." Zoro stopped harassing Luffy and looked behind himself to see Luffy's mother standing in the doorway and smiling warmly. He smiled back and got off of Luffy who was still sprawled on the bed with a slight blush on his face from all the laughing. "I just came in to ask if you'd like to stay for dinner? It will be ready soon."

"Yea, sure, why not. Thank you." Zoro replied and the woman nodded with a smile and walked out of the room. Luffy sighed contently and Zoro glanced at him.

"I'm happy we're friends, Zoro." He said lightly, grinning and the older teen grinned back.

"Yea, me too."

* * *

The next day in school everything was back to normal and Luffy was back to his annoying hyper self. Nami was smiling at him warmly and then looked at Zoro with approval, but he just grunted at her and she grinned. Luffy was talking about something for the whole lunch with excitement and everyone grinned at his story, laughing occasionally.

"But anyway, guys, it's finally Friday! Do you want to meet up tomorrow for practice?" He asked happily and everyone nodded.

"I will call Sanji and ask him." Nami said, taking her phone out.

"You have his number? Since when?" Usopp asked and she just sighed dramatically.

"Well, he wouldn't stop asking me about it so I gave him mine, since he's in our band now and all." She muttered out dialling the number. "Sanji, practice, tomorrow, at Zoro's" She said and ended the call before the other could say anything. Everyone stared at her and she just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Right. Ask him." Sam said sarcastically and she snapped him over the head. "Ow! First it's Zoro and now I have to deal with both of you. You should get yourself some anger management lessons, or something." He muttered out, rubbing his throbbing head and looking at the two accusingly.

"Guys," Coby started and looked around and stopping the argument that was about to unfold itself. "In the summer I'm going on a music camp." He said proudly and Luffy grinned at him.

"Cool! How did you get your dad to agree to that?" He asked excitedly.

"Well I just told him that I'm going and he was surprised that I didn't listen to him this time so he finally gave in." He replied with a smile and Luffy patted his friend on the back, congratulating him.

* * *

The next day Luffy was walking down the street happily towards Zoro's house. It was warmer now, as the spring came around not long ago and Luffy was happy that the sun was shinning brighter every day. He got to Zoro's but stopped immediately. He grimaced and fished into his pocket for his phone. He dialled one of the numbers and waited.

"Zoro, uh, your parents aren't in, right?" He asked uneasily, scratching at the back of his head. On the other side Zoro grunted with irritation.

"No, they're out again."

"How long?" Luffy asked cautiously and heard the other's muffled voice.

"Maybe a week, maybe a month." He muttered out and Luffy furrowed his brows.

"Um, right, okay." He replied quietly, but grinned when the doors opened and Zoro grabbed his hand pulling him inside.

"You're always first." Zoro said with a smirk as he pulled Luffy down to the basement and Luffy smiled at him.

"So what? You don't want me to?" He asked lightly and sat down on the old couch grinning.

"I don't. Now go away." He teased and Luffy pouted, pretending to be offended. The doorbell rang and Zoro sighed, going upstairs. Nami and Sanji walked in and soon after Usopp appeared and so they started. After few hours Usopp started to complain that he's tired and hungry so they made their way to the kitchen. Zoro threw them each a can of coke and looked around for something to eat.

"I've got some good news for you." Sanji said casually and everyone looked at him interested.

"What news?" Luffy asked immediately, being the most interested of all.

"I got us to play in a music camp near our town this summer. They're going to throw a party or something for the teens there the first night to make them more comfortable and shit like that." He said and Luffy almost fell off his chair when he started to jump on it excitedly. Then he stopped as to think about something.

"You mean, the one where Coby's going?"

"And who's Coby?" The blonde asked confused and Nami sighed.

"He's a friend of ours." She started and immediately got Sanji's attention on herself. "Anyway, how did you do it? You are helpful after all. Not like those idiots, who can't even get their lazy asses off the couch." She said with a smile and Sanji straightened himself proudly.

"I have my ways. Anything for my lovely Nami-san!" He said and Zoro grunted something inaudible and everyone laughed lightly. They stayed in the kitchen for some more as Zoro made some noodles because Luffy stated that he's so hungry that he will die if he won't eat anything right this instant. Nami stared at the two teens with a smirk on her face as she observed them laughing. She had never seen Zoro even smile in her whole life and now this kid was able to make him laugh so hard that he was almost crying. She poked Usopp in the ribs to get his attention on the teens. The long nosed teen raised his brow at the sight; Zoro grabbed Luffy by the waist from behind, making the younger teen yelp and turn around quickly. Then he started to tickle him so hard that Luffy was crying from the laughing and trying to get away, pushing at the other's chest, but it didn't seem to help much.

"Ah, why are they so oblivious." Name groaned, sighing with desperation and Usopp nodded, still staring at them.


	13. Chapter 12

_Chapter Twelve_

Two months went by fairly quickly and the day of truth was getting closer and closer. It was so warm now that Luffy was able to wear his favourite vest and the straw hat without people staring at him like he was retarded. Summer break will begin in less than a week and Luffy was excited and happy to finally have some free time from this boring school; he was just walking out of the school building happily when someone grabbed him by the waist from behind and lifted him up playfully. He giggled, instantly knowing who it was and turned his head to look at Zoro who was grinning at him. When he finally let go, Luffy turned fully to look at him and smiled broadly. It started to be a routine that they would hug all of a sudden anywhere they practically wanted and Luffy stopped being embarrassed by it after some time. People still looked at them strangely from the corner of their eyes but Luffy didn't care and Zoro didn't seem to, either.

"Alright, love birds, stop staring like you haven't seen each other for a year and move your asses." Nami said when she arrived next to them; she was trying her best every single time to give them some hints, but they just ignored her or were so oblivious that it actually made them stupid. She was about to say something more when she got rudely interrupted.

"Nami-swan!" She turned her head and glared at Sanji, who was running through the school gates and towards them with people staring at him with curiosity. When he finally ran up to them he got hit in the head by the irritated girl.

"Stop shouting like that, Sanji." She hissed and the blonde nodded eagerly still staring at her with admiration and clouded eyes. Soon, Usopp joined the group together with Sam and Coby and they made their way to place where they always hung out after school for the past two months.

"Swings!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs and started running towards the swings happily and when he got to them he hugged one and sighed contently. "Ah, I missed you swing." He said dreamily and sat on it immediately pushing himself into the air. The rest made their way to stand beside him and Usopp sat on the other available swing. "Usopp, let's see who's gonna go higher!" Luffy said with excitement in his voice and Usopp nodded, grinning at the challenge. Nami laughed lightly at them and sat on the grass, Sanji sitting right next to her. Zoro stood beside Luffy, staring at him the whole time with distant expression on his face, not listening to anyone.

"What's the name of our band, anyway?" Usopp asked suddenly and everyone looked at him then turned their heads to stare at Luffy who shrugged.

"_Kaizoku_." He stated lightly and everyone nodded amongst themselves.

"Yea, I guess, it's not bad." Usopp said and the rest agreed over each other making Luffy grin.

"Guys, how are you going to get there? I mean, it's about six hours to that place where the camp will be." Coby asked when he sat next to the others and they looked at each other for a second. They haven't discussed that yet.

"Don't worry." Usopp said, slowing the swing down and looking at everyone. "I can get us a van. It was my father's, it's a bit old, but it still works so it would be fine." He finished and Luffy jumped from the highest spot on the swing, landing loudly on the grass. He grunted as his legs hit the hard ground, but then turned his head to the others and smiled brightly.

"Cool." He said and made his way out of the old playground. "I'm gonna go buy ice cream from the shop nearby, anyone wants some?" He asked, not turning around and everyone said their 'yeses' and whatever they wanted. Zoro pushed himself off the pole of the swing and walked after Luffy without a word. Nami sighed and got up, patting her shorts to get the dirt off and sat at the swing that Luffy was sitting on before, sighing.

"They're starting to piss me off, you know." She whined as she watched Luffy notice his older friend and grab his hand, pulling him towards the shop and laughing. Usopp nodded and Sanji just shrugged. Sam looked at her with a grin.

"So you noticed?" He asked and she look at him.

"Of course I did, it's hard not to." She said. "But I'm not sure anymore, either Zoro is blind or just trying to be nice to Luffy."

"Nope." Sam shook his head. "I've known Zoro since we were little kids. I know that look in his eyes. But he's just too stubborn and probably because of his stupid father doesn't want to get it through his thick skull. So he just ignores this feelings." He said sadly, sighing and Nami nodded, deep in thought.

"He's this much of a douche?" She asked, referring to Zoro's father.

"Yea. He always tells him off for every little thing he does. He hates when Zoro plays his drums and once he even threatened to throw them out and he was close to doing so, but Zoro stopped him. I'm assuming that something already happened between the two and his father saw it and got mad. Zoro may hate him, but he still doesn't like when his father disapproves of something. And maybe he just thinks it's temporary. Either way, he may get over his father like he did with the drums thing and just go for it." He finished just as Luffy appeared with the ice creams, running to them and Zoro following after him calmly.

"I see." Nami said with a serious expression, but smiled when Luffy run up to them.

* * *

It was already dark outside, but the warm summer wind was blowing lightly. Nami stood in the kitchen, staring out the window at the trees and their leaves moving slightly and delicately. She was thinking and her face was twisted in a frown. The kettle whistled next to her and she jumped startled and turned it down making some coffee for herself. It was late, but she needed it. Drinking slowly, she stared out the window again, noticing a lone kid walking hurriedly down the street, probably to his house, already late and scared of being scolded by his mother. Nami flinched at that and sat the half empty cup beside her, walking out of the kitchen and towards on of the rooms and sat at a chair next to the bed. She smiled sadly and gripped the woman on the bed by her fragile hand.

"You know mom. It will all be alright. Tomorrow evening we will play for the first time somewhere else than the garage." She whispered and laughed quietly. "You know, me, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Sanji. I like them, mom. I think you are happy for me, aren't you? I will have to leave for about two days, but sister will take care of you, so you don't have to worry." She said and waited in the dim, quiet room. Sighing, she finally got up and made her way towards the door, leaving the room with only a sound of quiet, almost non existent breathing.

* * *

Zoro was sitting in the basement and playing on his drums when his father stormed into the room with an angry expression on his serious face.

"Stop playing right now, it's late." He snarled at him, but Zoro didn't stop.

"It's only seven." He said coldly, not looking at his father. The man walked up to him and snatched the drumsticks from his hands angrily. Zoro stared at him with furrowed brows.

"Give them back." He said slowly and got up.

"No! And you are not going to that camp thing!" Zoro's eyes widened at the words and he growled at his father.

"Stop telling me what I will and will not do." He snapped.

"I've told you to not let that kid into my house ever again! And now I'm finding out that you play in his band? I will not agree to something like that." His father replied, referring to Luffy and Zoro's blood boiled in his veins.

"And I told you to shut the hell up. Don't even dare talking about Luffy; I don't want to hear a word about him from your mouth." He said dangerously, clenching his fists. His father laughed at him coldly and mockingly.

"What? Am I making you sad by talking about your gay boyfriend? Don't make me laugh. Since when do you care about anyone else than yourself?" His father asked sarcastically. Zoro glared at him with hate in his eyes.

"Shut up. I'm going there whether you like it or not," He snapped and brushed past his father, but was caught painfully by the arm and pulled back when his father grabbed him.

"I told you already, you are not going anywhere." The man said slowly, hovering over Zoro, who snorted loudly and snatched his hand away.

"Watch me." He growled and walked out of the house and into his car, starting it and driving away from this fucked up house. Why did they have to come back home now? Couldn't they just wait another day, he thought angrily, gripping the wheel tightly.

* * *

"You will make it, you will make it, you will make it, you won't fuck up." Usopp was walking around his room in circles nervously and whispering to himself over and over again in an attempt to calm his nerves and the fear that was creeping into him, as he thought about what will he do tomorrow. This will be the day that he will prove that he is not just a coward and make his father proud. He will play in the best band ever and his father will be proud that his son accomplished that. Maybe then he will come back to him, say something, hug him and stop running away all of the time. He sighed and plopped himself down onto his small bed just as the doors opened and his aunt's head appeared from behind the door.

"Hey, Usopp." She said and smiled lightly, reassuringly and he smiled back, patting the place next to him. "Are you nervous?" She asked, as she sat down and Usopp nodded reluctantly.

"Yea, I don't think it's such a good idea anymore." He muttered out and the woman hugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry. You will do perfectly fine, just like your father." She said smiling and Usopp nodded absently. The woman sighed and got up, walking out of the room and leaving Usopp to his thoughts.

* * *

Sanji was standing outside in the same place he was once standing with Luffy at breaks, cigarette in his mouth and a thoughtful expression on his face, staring of into the dark space. He jumped when he heard something above himself and he snapped his head up to see the owner in the window, looking at him with a serious face.

"What?" He snapped.

"If you weren't down there you would get kicked in the face for that tone." The man said and Sanji muttered something under his breath. It was strangely silent for a moment and Sanji cringed, looking away and at the smoke coming from his lips and disappearing in the dark sky. He sighed.

"Thanks." He muttered out and looked at the man with the corner of his eye; his expression didn't change. "Thanks for saving me and sorry for my stupidity. I know that's not what you wanted for me, so I'm sorry. But now it doesn't matter, right? I'm in a band and you're finally gonna get rid of me soon." He finished with a small smile playing on his face. The man snorted at that.

"Yea, finally, you are so annoying." He replied and Sanji glared at him, but his expression changed at the next words. "And you better be good, all of you, I don't wanna know you if you're not gonna be known." He snorted out with a smirk and Sanji grinned.

"Don't worry about that, old geezer. We're gonna be so good, that you gonna be jealous."

* * *

Luffy grinned at the thought of tomorrow as he sat on the roof of their garage, propped on his hands and stared at the dark, starless sky. He sat there for long when he heard a car stop nearby and he looked in that direction to see Zoro's jeep standing by his house and Zoro getting out, slamming the door behind him angrily. Luffy furrowed his brows, as he stared at the stressed expression on his friend's face as he moved towards the door. Luffy rolled over to the end of the roof and looked down to get Zoro's attention.

"Zoro, I'm up here." When Zoro heard Luffy's voice somewhere above him, he frowned and looked up to see Luffy's head hanging from the rooftop with his black hair covering his face. He noticed the lack of the straw hat and stared at his friend, admiring his face. He snapped out of his daze, shaking his head furiously.

"How the hell did you get up there, Luffy?" He asked and the teen grinned at him and pointed to the window; his room was next to the garage on the first floor so he could easily walk through the window and onto the roof. Zoro sighed and looked around. He spotted the bin and got onto it, jumping easily onto the roof next to Luffy.

"What's with the face?" Luffy asked, observing his friend closely. Zoro rubbed his temples harshly and groaned. Luffy raised his brow. "Your father?" He asked and sighed as the older teen nodded. He grabbed Zoro's hand and motioned for him to the spot where he was sitting before, away from the edge of the roof and Zoro followed him, sitting next to his friend tiredly. What happened?" Luffy asked, looking at Zoro questioningly. Zoro gritted his teeth at the memory of his father talking about Luffy and he moved closer to the teen without even realising it.

"Some shit about me not going tomorrow." He grunted and Luffy looked at him alarmed. "But don't worry, I'm not gonna listen to him." He said quickly and Luffy smiled at him, making Zoro smile warmly in return. The younger teen yawned sleepily and Zoro grinned at him.

"Maybe you should go to sleep now. You'll have to get up early tomorrow." He said and Luffy shook his head forcefully.

"Nope, I'm fine." He said quietly, but he had to force his eyes to stay open. Zoro stared at him with strange expression crossing his face. He bit his lip and slipped his arm around Luffy's waist slowly. The boy didn't seem to object and he rested his head on the other's shoulder, closing his eyes. They stayed like that for some time and Zoro thought that the younger teen had fallen asleep on him because of the silence; he hesitated, but finally moved his hand and run his fingers through the other's hair and down his cheek. His hair was so silky and his hands ran through it easily and the skin on hi face was so soft that it send shivers down Zoro's back. Luffy muttered something under his breath and opened his eyes slightly.

* * *

Luffy stiffened when he felt a warm hand on his face and he tried to calm his breathing down. He opened his eyes immediately, but the hand was gone and he wondered if he was only dreaming. It was a nice feeling, so delicate and loving that he actually didn't believe it could be real, so he sighed sadly to himself, then looked at Zoro, who flinched and moved away from him. Panic rose in his gut and he found himself asking Zoro: "Did I do something wrong?", before he could help himself. Zoro looked down at him, as he was still sitting and the older teen got up with a strange expression which Luffy was not able to read. He shook his head slowly, not saying a word for a few minutes and Luffy looked at him uneasily.

"No." He finally said, his voice hoarse and Luffy blinked. "No, I-I have to go now." He muttered out, turning around but Luffy grabbed his hand forcefully. He turned his head, but Luffy wasn't looking at him.

"Where would you go?" He asked and Zoro groaned at the words. Right, he couldn't go back to his house now. He sighed and turned to Luffy completely.

"Sorry. It's not you." He whispered, not looking his friend in the eyes.

"Then what is it?" Luffy asked desperately and Zoro grimaced at the tone of his voice.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, not moving away or towards Luffy. Suddenly he felt small arms wrap themselves around his chest forcefully and he looked down to see the determination in Luffy's eyes.

"You have no idea how happy I am to be your friend. And I don't want that gone." He said fiercely and Zoro looked away uncomfortably. Friend. Only friend. Why did it still bother him? He felt his arms wrap around Luffy stiffly and he felt like they didn't belong to him. He sighed and closed his eyes, hugging Luffy to himself so hard that he thought he might break the younger teen. He licked his lip and cleared his throat.

"I'm not going anywhere. I like our friendship, too." He said finally weakly and Luffy had to move his face closer to hear him. The younger teen blink a few times, letting go, instead grabbing Zoro's hand and dragging him to his room. They got inside through the window and Luffy walked straight to his bed, plopping onto it hardly without another word and Zoro laid beside the teen, who was turned with his back to him.


	14. Chapter 13

_Chapter Thirteen _

"Zoro, get up." Luffy grumbled, poking his friend in the ribs but that didn't seem to help as he only rolled over to the other side, still sleeping. "Get up!" He screamed throwing himself at the older teen. Zoro snapped his eyes open at the sudden pain and glared at Luffy like he was about to kill him. Luffy just smiled sweetly. "Get up, Usopp is on his way!" He said excitedly and started to bounce in place, forgetting where he was sitting in the first place. Zoro's face heated up immediately for the first time in years and he grabbed Luffy's sides to stop him from jumping on him. Luffy looked at him confused, not noticing anything because of the excitement. Zoro calmed himself down and sighed, pushing Luffy off of him and getting up. He walked into the bathroom and looked at his reflection sceptically. Now when he thought about it he would have to be in the clothes from the other day, wrinkled even more by the 6 hour drive. Sighing, he run a hand through his hair.

"Luffy, can I use the shower?" He shouted to the teen in the other room and got in when he heard him say yes. He closed his eyes as the hot water hit his body and his muscles relaxed even if just a little bit, but he was still thinking about the previous night. He was getting tired of repeating to himself that he was not gay, but he still did that. Anyway, Luffy said that they were just friends, didn't he? His thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

"Zoro, what are you doing in there for so long? Are you a woman, or something?" He heard Luffy shout and could just imagine the huge smile on his face. He huffed, got out, put his boxers on and shouted to the other that he can get in now. The door opened and as expected, Luffy was grinning like he did so often, but his smile disappeared when he noticed Zoro standing by the shower in only his underwear with the water dripping from his hair and down his muscled and toned body. Luffy gaped at him and felt a blush race its way onto his face. He cleared his throat, averting his eyes and walked past Zoro to look at himself in the mirror instead. Zoro looked at him strangely with a glint of hope, but shook it off as quickly as it appeared.

"Right." He said awkwardly, grabbing the rest of his clothes and walking out of the bathroom.

* * *

When Luffy was finally alone he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. His face was still red and he glared at his reflection accusingly. He huffed and got in the shower. When he finished he noticed that he didn't bring any clothes from his room and he groaned, wrapping a towel around his waist and walking into his room angrily. He walked down the room to get to his dresser and felt eyes on his back; blushing, he got the clothes out and turned around awkwardly to see Zoro staring at him with a distant expression. He cleared his throat and the older teen snapped his head up, looking him in the eyes.

"What?" Luffy snapped and Zoro grinned.

"Nothing. Nice towel." Luffy's face heated up even more when he looked at the pink towel on his hips.

"Shuddup." He muttered out and went back to the bathroom to change. It was about the towel. He couldn't be possible staring at your ass, he thought sarcastically, he's straight after all. Luffy groaned and looked at his reflection bitterly. He dressed quickly and got out of the bathroom, walking past Zoro, who was still sitting in the same spot on his bed, but got up as Luffy walked out of the room and followed him to the kitchen, where his mother was already sitting with a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked up and widened her eyes when she saw Zoro.

"When did you get in here? I don't remember you coming over." She muttered out, looking at him suspiciously.

"Never mind, mom. Where's the food?" Luffy shouted out, looking around and his mom laughed lightly, motioning for them to sit down.

"Now you will have to share your food with Zoro." She mused and Luffy stared at her with mouth hanging open. "What? I didn't know he was here, so I made some only for you." She said and laughed at the miserable expression on her son's face. "But don't worry, Zoro, there's plenty anyway, this boy can eat for ten people." She said, directing her eyes at Zoro, who grinned at her.

"Mom." Luffy whined. "How can I share my food? And when it's pancakes? You have no heart, mom." He muttered out, grabbing the plate of about 50 pancakes and Zoro snickered at the pancake tower. Luffy glared at him, then at the food and back at him and decided to be generous enough to give Zoro one of his precious pancakes.

"Luffy." His mom warned and he looked at her sheepishly. "Give Zoro some more pancakes, or you are not going anywhere." She said dangerously and Luffy gasped.

"You wouldn't, mom." He said and she just smiled, making him mutter a 'fine' and place few more pancakes onto Zoro's plate. Luffy ate hurriedly, shoving four pancakes at a time into his mouth and almost choking. His mother scolded him, reminding him of manners and he slowed down just a little bit. Zoro stared at them as they smiled and laughed and he just had to smile with them, their happiness was contagious. They heard a loud honk outside the house few minutes after and Luffy run out of the kitchen so quickly it seemed almost impossible. Zoro got up himself but slower than the other teen and made his way out of the house and into the old van, where Usopp was sitting with a grin in the driver's seat. Zoro got in the back, plopping himself beside Luffy.

"So, who are we going to pick up now?" Zoro asked and Usopp looked at him through the rear view mirror as he started the car.

"Nami's the closest, so her obviously, then Coby and then we just have to go to that restaurant for Sanji. Maybe they will give us some food for the drive." The long nosed teen said cheerfully and Luffy looked up at the mention of food.

"Yea!" He screamed out, grinning. Coby wasn't in the band, but his father still didn't approve of him going to that music camp, but he did anyway, together with the other guys.

* * *

They were driving for about two hours now and unfortunately they didn't give them any food in the restaurant, so Luffy was already complaining how hungry he was.

"You ate two hours ago! About 50 fuckin' pancakes." Zoro said to him with annoyance and the boy stuck his tongue out at the older teen.

"Yea well, it's break time now." He replied with a grin.

"You should have taken something with you." Usopp muttered out, but turned to the nearest McDonald's on their way. Luffy jumped out of the van happily and run inside.

"We will never get there with him." Nami said, sighing and everyone agreed. Finally Luffy was back with everything from the menu in his hands and got inside the car with a pleased smile. Zoro glared at him for a second, before snatching some of his fries and Luffy pouted at him. Now it was Zoro's time to stuck his tongue out. After that he just closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, which was rather hard with the hyper boy sitting right next to him, talking, or more like shouting and squirming in his seat as he was not able to sit in one position for too long. This ride will be torturous, he thought, massaging his temples.

* * *

When they finally got there after 6 killing hours of being in the same car with Luffy, Coby waved to them and walked inside some small building to register himself and the rest followed Sanji as he somehow knew where he was going. They walked up to a man of about 40 years and when he noticed then he grinned and stretched his hand to greet each of them.

"Cool to meet you all. I'm sure they will like you." He said cheerfully. He was acting more like a teenager than an adult and he was dressed in dark jeans, Korn t-shirt and a baseball cap. "I'll give you three rooms, so you can sleep the night here then you can go home, or whatever. I hop you'll stay for the party afterwards?" He asked and everyone nodded. "Did you take your own instruments, or do you want to borrow some?"

"Drums." Zoro said and the man nodded.

"Thoughts so. Well, I will see you around. Here are your keys and the rooms are in that direction." The man said, showing them where they have to go and walked away.

"This party's gonna be boring as hell." Zoro muttered out walking behind everyone else. Sanji turned his head to look at him and grinned.

"Don't worry about that. I've got some booze, children." He said and Zoro smirked at him. Luffy turned around and was walking in front of them backwards.

"I don't drink." He said cocking his head to the side.

"And I don't get drunk." Zoro replied with a smirk and Luffy rolled his eyes before turning back and walking normally.

The rooms were next to each other and they decide that Nami will be in one, of course because she's the only girl, Sanji will be with Usopp and Luffy with Zoro. Zoro got in the first room sitting on the nearest bed heavily and seconds after he was sleeping. Luffy looked at him, huffing and then looked at the clock. They had three hours till dinner and then two after that. Sighing, Luffy walked out of the room; he was sitting in one place for too long anyway, now he had to take a walk around the campus. Maybe he will find Coby. He walked outside, looking around; there were a lot of people from about 15 to 19 years old and some were just walking around, some were by the river… wait, river? Luffy ran in that direction and onto the small bridge, hung his head down holding onto his hat and stared at the small fish swimming lazily in the clear water. He giggled at how funny their tails were wiggling around and he didn't notice someone stopping next to him until they said something and Luffy jumped up, snapping his head to look at a guy of about 18 years with short brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Are those fish really that entertaining?" He asked in a deep voice and smirked at Luffy, who blinked his big eyes at him and then grinned.

"They're funny." He said and the guy laughed shortly.

"I'm Luke." The guy said with a charming smile and outstretched his hand to shake Luffy's, who took it without hesitation.

"Luffy."

"Nice name." Luke said and Luffy blushed stuttering out a short 'thanks.' and looking away. "Anyway, are you here for the first time?" He asked and Luffy nodded, but then shook his head. "Yes? No?"

"Uh, I'm here to play with my band. For that thing you've got today in the evening." He said when he relaxed and smiled again. The guy looked at him with raised brows.

"Cool, you play something?" He asked and Luffy shook his head with a grin.

"I'm the singer." He replied proudly.

"Cute." Luke said, piercing his dark eyes into Luffy's, who looked away awkwardly.

"Uh, yea, right, thanks… or something." He said, scratching at the back of his neck and making the hat fell onto his eyes, covering them. This guy made him feel somehow uncomfortable.

"You wanna take a walk? I can show you around, we still got about two hours."

"Y-yea, okay." Luffy said and followed the guy, looking at him intensely and suspiciously.

"You seem shy." The guy stated and Luffy stared at him for some time before bursting into laughter.

"Me? Shy? I'm anything but shy." He replied, relaxing visibly. The guy looked at him for a second with a small smile and Luffy smiled back with his huge one. "So, what do you play?" He asked cheerfully.

"Guitar." Came the short reply and Luffy nodded slowly.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He said with a hint of mystery and Luffy grinned at him; he liked exploring new things.

"How many times have you been here?"

"I come here every year since I was 14." He said with a smirk and Luffy nodded.

"You must have a lot of friends then."

"Not really. We're here." He said and Luffy looked around excitedly. They were walking through a small forest near the camp and now they stood in front of a huge, clear lake. Luffy jumped up in excitement and ran up to the edge, where the water was hitting the small rocks lazily. He plopped onto the green grass as close as it was possible and outstretched his hand to dive his fingers in the water. He shivered lightly at the coldness of it but didn't pull back and just sat there staring into the lake. Luke stared at his back for some time with a smirk, then walked up sitting beside him.

"Do you like water that much?" He asked and Luffy nodded enthusiastically. "I believe today's gonna be really cool." He said after a moment of silence and Luffy glanced at him.

"Why?"

"Because I'm sure such a cute guy like you have an angelic voice." He replied and Luffy processed the information in his head slowly, then his face burned bright red and he looked away clearing his throat.

"We should go back now." He said quickly and got up, starting to walk away from the lake but stopped abruptly. Luke walked up to him with a raised brow. "Uh. Which way's back?" He asked innocently and the other smirked at him, motioning for Luffy to follow.

They were back just as the dinner was starting and they made their way to the cafeteria, Luffy looking franticly around to for his friends.

"Looking for your band mates?" Luke asked and Luffy glanced at him for a second, then nodded. Suddenly his face brighten when he spotted Zoro with Usopp and he started to wave franticly.

"Zoro!" he screamed and started running towards his friends.

* * *

Zoro looked in the direction of the voice and furrowed his brows when he noticed Luffy with some guy. Something stung at his chest at the way the guy was staring at Luffy hungrily.

"Pf, Zoro, Zoro, oh Zoro, and what am I? Invisible?" Usopp muttered out, mimicking Luffy in a high voice, not even similar to the teen's. Zoro glared at him, but quickly averted his eyes to Luffy and that strange guy, when they walked up to them. Zoro glared at the guy and he just smirked, which made the green haired teen's blood boil in his veins, but he calmed down when Luffy threw his hands around Zoro's neck and Zoro slipped his hands around the boy's slim waist. He snickered, when the new guy's face changed from the smug smirk to a frown. Usopp cleared his throat with a knowing smile and Zoro snapped him on the head.

"Luffy, who's your new friend?" Usopp asked casually, looking for any reaction in Zoro, which he of course got when the older teen's face twisted into a frown and Usopp had to hold in his laughter.

"Oh, right." Luffy said, letting go of Zoro reluctantly. "This is Luke, I met him by the river." He said cheerfully and Luke nodded at the two. Zoro nodded back with a serious expression on his face and Usopp could almost see the daggers shooting from his eyes.

"Right." Luke said awkwardly looking at Zoro. "I'll go now, but I'll will see you around, Luffy." He said with a smug smile and walked away.

"Bye." Luffy said cheerfully, waving his hand at the other. Zoro gritted his teeth and Usopp cleared his throat to hide his laughter. He will have to tell about that to Nami.

"I don't like him." Zoro stated and Luffy looked at him with his big eyes.

"Why?" He asked with an innocent stare and Zoro groaned.

"I just don't." He muttered out and Luffy shrugged. Soon Nami and Sanji appeared. When Luffy finally ate almost everything he possibly could, Zoro grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the cafeteria. Luffy looked at him confused.

"What are you doing, Zoro?"

"We're gonna take a walk." He growled and Luffy cocked his head to the side.

"Okay. But you don't have to drag me like that." He said and Zoro glared at him, then at his hand gripping Luffy's tightly and he let go quickly, muttering under his breath. Luffy giggled and slipped his hand back into Zoro's, who looked at him questioningly.

"I said you don't have to drag me like that, I didn't say you can't hold my hand." He replied with a huge smile and Zoro shook his head, smiling at the smaller teen and relaxing his hand, giving Luffy's a light squeeze.

* * *

Last chapter to go guys and it's gonna be the longest I think. Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them :)


	15. Chapter 14

_Chapter Fourteen_

I am not good with dramas, I can write funny stuff and that's it. That's all I have to say. Thank you.

* * *

They were backstage, getting ready and Luffy was bouncing in place, being his usual hyper self, Zoro was staring at Nami who was trying to get rid of Sanji, as he was jumping around her, complementing her and telling her how this will be so good all thanks to her and Usopp was hyperventilating in the corner with scary thoughst flooding his mind.

"You ready?" The man from before walked up to them with a grin on his face and Luffy ran up to him with so much excitement building inside of him that he thought he's gonna explode.

"Yea!" He screamed, fist bumping the air and the rest grinned. Except for Usopp, who muttered something under his breath, sweat running down his back. Luffy glanced at him and calmed down a bit walking up to his long nosed friend.

"Don't worry, Usopp. It's gonna be cool." He said cheerfully and Usopp glanced at him suspiciously, but relaxed at the encouraging smile on the hyper teen's face.

"Alright, get going." The man said and patted each of them on the backs.

* * *

Usopp stood with his bass guitar in the back of the stage on wobbly legs and his hands were so sweaty that his fingers were almost slipping from the guitar. He looked around. So many people. And they were all staring at them in silence. He even heard some snicker and he got even more nervous, his legs shaking visibly. They gonna hate us, he thought and was about to run away screaming but jumped in his place when Zoro hit the plates and the rest started playing. He looked around again to see bored expression and he thought he's gonna burst out crying, but in the same time Luffy started singing and everyone's attention was immediately on the small teen and some of them even stared at him with their mouths hanging open and the rest started cheering. This gave Usopp enough confidence to start playing and soon he was grinning and the fear was forgotten far in his mind.

They got off the stage to loud cheering and clasping and Usopp was relieved and happy that it went well. He looked around and spotted Nami who was smiling at him and he walked up to her.

"You did well." She said and he smiled back.

"Thanks. I thought I'm gonna die, but then it was all fine." He said with a sigh and she nodded. Sanji ran up to her with outstretched arms, but she moved to the side and his face made a close and intimate contact with the floor. He got up quickly and started to tell her how perfect, lovely, beautiful and sexy she was on the stage and she rolled her eyes at him tiredly, but then looked alarmed to the side where Zoro was storming off from a stunned Luffy.

* * *

When they got off the stage Luffy was so excited and happy that Zoro just stood staring at him and when the smaller teen noticed him he ran up and smiled at him. Zoro couldn't take his eyes off the boy's flushed face, the sparkle in his big eyes and the cute smile. He got lost in his thoughts of the other and without thinking leaned towards Luffy, smacking his lips on the other teen's. Luffy was caught off guard and stood there not moving with his eyes wide open. When Zoro noticed that, he pulled away quickly, still feeling the softness of the other's lips and when realisation hit him hard, he did the only think that came to his mind and stormed off, leaving Luffy who was still standing in the same spot with wide open eyes. He just barely noticed Nami run past him with an angry expression on her face.

* * *

"Luffy, are you ok?" He blinked few times and looked at Sanji, confusion written all over his face and the blonde sighed, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Luffy, snap out of it." He said louder and finally got Luffy's attention on him.

"W-what was that?" The smaller teen asked weakly and Sanji sighed again. He was about to say something, when Luffy looked around, panic rising in his eyes.

"Oh, god! He's gonna hate me now!" He squeaked out and looked at Sanji with desperation.

"No, he's not, can't you see that-"

"No, no, no, he hates me now." Luffy muttered out, ignoring his friend. He sniffled, tears building up in his eyes and he turned around quickly, running off.

"Luffy! Come back here!" Sanji shouted and was about to go after the younger boy, but Usopp stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"He needs to cool off." He said and Sanji glared at him, but settled in his place, taking out a cigarette and shoving it into his mouth with irritation.

"That little idiot." He muttered out, taking a long drag and Usopp sighed.

"It will all be good." He said quietly as to convince himself.

* * *

Nami stared after Zoro as he ran away and out of her sight; she then snapped her eyes to look at Luffy, who was standing there confused and she groaned, starting after the green haired teen. She looked around herself and noticed Zoro walking into the forest and she quickly followed him. She was breathing hard when she was finally close enough to grab his arm forcefully. Zoro turned his head noticing it's her and pulled his arm away with so much force that it made Nami stumble forward.

"You idiot!" She screamed out with fury when Zoro started to walk again. He clenched his fists and turned around to stare at her.

"Leave me alone, Nami." He growled out but Nami shook her head walking up to him.

"No! What do you think you're doing?" She asked frustrated, but realised that was not a good question to ask.

"I'm asking myself the same question." He snapped and she heard a hint of desperation in his voice. She calmed herself down and looked at him warmly.

"Zoro." She started quietly. "You can't keep running away from this." She said, placing her small hand on his shoulder. His eyes changed for a moment, but it was instantly replaced by a cold stare.

"I can always try." He replied and she flinched when his voice broke at the end and he turned around, walking away and she didn't stop him this time.

* * *

Luffy ran through the crowd of the laughing teens, rubbing at his eyes angrily to stop the tears. He sniffled again and jumped up, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around quickly, he saw Luke, who was smiling at him reassuringly.

"What happened, Luffy? You were really good." He said and Luffy looked away.

"Thanks." He said weakly. Luke sighed and took his hand dragging him lightly out of the crowd and to a small fire to sit on one of the benches around it.

"So? What happened?" He asked, rubbing Luffy's back.

"My friend hates me now." He muttered out.

"Which one?" Luke asked in shock.

"Zoro." Something in the older teen's eyes changed and he hid a smirk.

"Well, don't think about him, it's such a beautiful night, don't you agree?" Luffy looked up at him, nodded and forced a small smile.

* * *

Zoro stood in front of the door to Sanji's room and grabbed the handle, pulling harshly and walking inside. They left the room open, those idiots. He looked around, not noticing anything at first glance, but then spotted Sanji's backpack under the bed and he smirked to himself. Walking up to it quickly and rummaging through it, he found what he was looking for and took out the bottle of vodka, opening it and taking an empty bottle of water and filling it up. When he finished, he sighed tiredly and walked out of the room taking a sip. He made his way towards the sounds of shouting and laugher and looked around. Groaning he walked around, gulping the liquid quickly. Walking for about 20 minutes he drank the rest just as he spotted Luffy sitting around a small fire with some guy. Zoro's eyes widened when he noticed that the guy was the one from before. And right now he was trying to kiss Luffy, holding him by the waist and the younger teen didn't seem too happy. Zoro's blood boiled and the booze made his head explode with a throbbing pain.

* * *

Luffy sat by the fire with the older teen in silence for some time, when suddenly Luke grabbed him by the arm to get his attention and grinned, showing him a bottle. Luffy looked at him blankly and the other sighed, moving his head closer to Luffy's and whispering in his ear.

"I've got little something here. It will help you take your mind of that twat." He said and Luffy flinched at the name and at the close proximity, moving away quickly and shaking his head.

"I don't drink." He said, still shaking his head and the older teen snickered.

"Don't be like that, Luffy. You know it will help you." He said and Luffy looked at him for some time and finally nodded weakly. He didn't want to think about Zoro and the fact that the older teen hated him now. He didn't know how it happened that they were kissing, but Luffy was sure it was his fault and now Zoro was disgusted with him. Luke smirked and stretched his hand towards Luffy, who took the bottle and sipped on it slowly. His face twisted in distaste and he coughed shortly, but ignored it and took a longer swing from the bottle. Soon it was almost empty and Luffy started to feel strange, like he wasn't in his body anymore and everything around him was drifting away. He blinked and stumbled forward, feeling cold hands running up and down his sides under his shirt and he shivered in discomfort, but was too tired to pushed them away. When he felt Luke's breath on his face, his eyes snapped opened and he saw the older teen's face inching closer and closer and panic rose in him, making him push at the other weakly and turn his head to the side. That didn't seem to bother Luke and he attacked Luffy's neck instead. The smaller teen gasped in shock and tried harder to push Luke away from him, but he was feeling too dizzy and all his strength left him; he felt hot tears sting at his eyes and he muttered a weak no, but the other ignored him. Suddenly all of that was gone, the hands, breath and the lips and Luffy looked around confused, but relieved. His eyes opened wide, when he saw Zoro hovering over Luke, who was lying on the ground. Zoro's face was twisted in disgust and for a second Luffy thought it was directed at him, but Zoro wasn't looking at him but the other guy, who was now getting up slowly. Luffy yelped, when Zoro's fist connected forcefully with the other's face and he groaned, stumbling backwards and giving Zoro a hateful glare.

"Don't you fucking dare touch him ever again, you little fuck." Zoro growled and Luffy remembered when Zoro was talking to his father, but this time the anger and hate was even bigger, his voice was dripping with venom so strong that Luffy sat in place, staring at him with mouth hanging open. Then he heard a snicker and saw Zoro's fists clench even harder and every muscle in his body tense in hate.

"Don't be ridiculous. It was you who made him cry, I was just trying to comfort him." Luke said smugly and Zoro's expression changed into one of disbelief. Luffy was crying because of him? Why was he so stupid, he thought franticly, but shook his head and glared at the other.

"Comfort him without his permission? You little pervert, better get your sorry ass away from Luffy, or you will regret it." He snapped, but Luke just laughed at him and Zoro clenched his fist again, aiming for the other's face and hitting him so hard that he screamed out in pain, his hands flying to his face and Zoro smiled dangerously when he heard a snap indicating that he have broken the other's nose. But that didn't seem to be enough, as Luke ran up to Zoro, letting go of his nose and revealing the blood pouring down his face. He was about to hit Zoro, but the other dodged easily and punched him in the gut, making him stumble backwards and fall onto the dirty ground, all air leaving his lungs in a loud gasp. He groaned, getting up and shoot a glare towards Zoro, before storming off on shaky legs. Zoro stared after him with his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white and he tried to calm himself down, but was still shaking in fury.

"Zoro." He heard Luffy's weak voice and all the anger left him when he looked at the smaller teen, who was sitting beside him and trying to not fall over with his big eyes shining from the tears that threatened to escape. Zoro crouched down next to his friend and wrapped his arms around his small frame, Luffy's hands immediately snapping up to curl around Zoro's neck.

"What did he do to you?" Zoro asked angrily at the thought of that sick guy touching his friend and Luffy sniffled, shaking his head.

"Nothing. It's my fault. I shouldn't have drank that." He muttered out. "I would be fine, but my arms were just so heavy and I felt dizzy… Zoro, I'm still feeling dizzy." Luffy said weakly and Zoro sighed, picking the boy up and directing his steps to their room. He got inside and laid Luffy slowly on one of the beds and started to straighten himself up, but felt small hand on his wrist and he looked down.

"Don't leave me, Zoro." Luffy muttered out desperately. "I don't want you to hate me, please, don't hate me. Don't leave me, I hate it when people leave me." He cried out and Zoro bit his lip before sitting next to the boy. Now Luffy was muttering something under his breath and Zoro wasn't really sure what it was. He sighed tiredly.

"Luffy, calm down, you're drunk. I'm not leaving you, alright?" He said fiercely and Luffy looked up at him with eyes clouded over by the alcohol. He sat up slowly, scooting closer to the older teen and Zoro looked at him confused.

"I love you." Luffy murmured, before closing his eyes and burring his face in the other's neck. Zoro's breath hitched in his throat and he stiffened looking at the boy with wide eyes. He blinked, relaxing and wrapped his hands around Luffy's waist, hugging him tightly.

"I love you, too, Luffy." He whispered kissing Luffy's forehead lightly and moving them to a lying position; Luffy squirmed in his arms for a few seconds before finding the most comfortable position and snuggled his face into Zoro's chest, falling asleep quickly because of the alcohol in his system. Zoro laid in the darkness of the room, staring into space with his arms wrapped securely around the smaller teen. He could feel the calm heartbeat and the warm breath on his neck and he relaxed visibly, hugging Luffy to himself, finally admitting the truth and falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The next day Luffy woke up with a huge headache and groaned quietly, but stiffened when he noticed the strong arms around his waist. He blinked, confused and looked up to see Zoro's calm, sleeping face; he stared at it for some time with his heart racing faster and the headache forgotten. He blushed when he noticed his hand on Zoro's back and he moved it away quickly. Sighing in relief he looked down to see his legs tangled with Zoro's and he blushed even harder. Somehow he didn't remember anything that had happened the other night.

"What are you looking at, Luffy?" He jumped up, startled and snapped his head up at Zoro, who's eyes were now open and looking at him playfully. He stared at the older teen with confusion written all over his face and Zoro sighed.

"You don't remember anything?" He asked and Luffy shook his head cautiously. Zoro looked away for a second and then back at Luffy, before leaning in and giving Luffy a small kiss on the forehead. Luffy's eyes widened and he stared at him with question in his big eyes.

"Luffy, do you like me?" Zoro asked and bit his lip. Luffy stiffened and a certain memory flooded his mind. He stared panicked at the older teen, then sat up, moving away.

"I'm sorry!" He squeaked out. "Don't hate me! That k-kiss backstage, it was…I mean," He was stuttering and looking anywhere but at Zoro, who's expression changed into a frown. Then Luffy felt strong arms around himself and he calmed down a little bit, looking up.

"Try to remember." Zoro said, looking him in the eyes and Luffy felt himself melt at the way Zoro was looking at him, but he sighed and shook his head hopelessly. Zoro groaned.

"I hoped you would remember it yourself, I didn't want to tell you about that fucking idiot who almost-" He started, hate dripping from his voice and Luffy's eyes widened with panic. Zoro noticed that and stopped, looking at him with concern.

"Oh, right." Luffy managed, when the memories of Luke came back. He cringed in distaste and looked away. Zoro sighed and wrapped his arms around his waist tighter. Luffy snuggled closer to him sighing contently and smiled at him. "Thanks." He murmured, slipping his arms around Zoro's neck and heaving himself up to press his lips lightly onto Zoro's, who smiled at him warmly.

"I love you, Luffy." He whispered and Luffy's smile widened to almost impossible size.

"I love you, too." He replied cheerfully. Zoro grinned and grabbed Luffy's sides before shoving him onto the bed and starting to tickle the smaller teen. Luffy laughed loudly and tried to push the other off of himself, kicking his leg in the air and pushing at Zoro's chest. He was laughing so hard that when Zoro stopped, his face was red, he was breathing hard and few tears of laugher escaped his big eyes. He sighed and stared up at Zoro, who leaned down kissing the other on the lips at first delicately. Luffy wrapped his arm around his neck and tangled his hands in the green hair playing with them between his fingers and Zoro deepened the kiss making it more passionate. Zoro licked the other's bottom lip and Luffy opened his mouth letting the older teen explore it with his tongue; Luffy pulled him closer, making their bodied touch and Zoro run his hands down Luffy's sides, when suddenly the door opened and they snapped their heads up to look at Nami and Usopp standing in the doorway. Usopp cleared his throat awkwardly and Nami smirked.

"Finally, guys, I thought you will be in denial for, like, forever." She said and Usopp nodded, still not looking in their direction. Zoro groaned, rolling over on the bed to sit down next to Luffy who was still lying with his face flushed, but now it wasn't only from the excitement, but embarrassment. He looked at his friends and covered his face in one of the pillows, groaning.

"Yea, great." Zoro said, glaring at the two. "Anything important you had to say?"

"Right. Breakfast will start in few minutes and after that we're going." Nami said before waving them off and walking away. Luffy threw the pillow away and jumped off the bed, running after her and screaming.

"Food!" He cheered and disappeared behind the door. Zoro sighed and got up himself, walking out of the room with Usopp, who was muttering something about how embarrassing that was under his breath. Zoro rolled his eyes, but grinned.

**Fin**

* * *

A/N: So that's it; I don't know if it was good or not, but I'm still proud of myself, as I never finished anything I started writing, lol, but I liked writing this story, so it was actually quite easy to finish it. I had it all planned in my head at first, but I tend to add things on the spot as I go on, anything that pops into my head, so I never actually knew how it would turn out; bad habit of mine or…? I don't know, but anyway, I wonder if I should write something more to it, of course only if anyone is willing to read more of it xd. And sorry for any obvious mistakes as I'm not English. Review? I will appreciate it. Thanks to anyone who stuck with it till the end : ).


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